Thinking of You
by Akanishi-san
Summary: [Complete]SasukexOc A woman returns to Konoha after years of training. She gets acquainted with the Uchiha, and slowly his ice covered heart melts. But that did not mean they would live happily ever after. She has a curse, a curse that might kill her soon
1. Enter Minami

Akanishi-san: Yeah, I'm making another SasuxOc fic. Seems like this was the biggest hit. But then again, who would like him if you all saw the anime of where…yeah, anyway. I wont say anymore. I might spoil the anime/manga to you, so I'll stop here. Depending on the reviews, I'll make this short or long. Anyway, enjoy!

**ATTENTION: This will take place when Naruto and gang are 18-ish. Also, Sasuke is an ANBU, Sakura is a full fledged medicnin, and Naruto is the Hokage in training under Tsunade. **

Ch1 Suzaku

A young woman around 17 walked in front of Konoha Gate, breathing heavily. She supported wounds, looking like she had been traveling for a long time, and had gone through battles. She had dark shining green eyes that stood out since she had red hair that went to her waist. She wore a jounin jacket, and looked like any other jounins, yet she stood out. She carried a small pack, and on her waist, there was a leather glove.

She walked to the gate, and got out a pass that identified that she was a Konoha ninja. She smiled at the man who took her pass, and soon as he had the pass in his hands, his eyes grew wide.

"Suzaku…from the Suzaku Clan?" He whispered. The man looked up into her piercing green eyes, only to see her smiling at him, saying nothing. "Oh, I'm sorry." He muttered, still bewildered look on him. "Open the gates." He said, looking up to a man who stood in a control room like thing. The man nodded in response, and slowly, the gate opened for the newcomer.

The woman gave him a small nod when she got her pass back, and with her other free hand she brought her hand to her mouth. Putting two of her fingers in her mouth, she whistled a high pitch sound. As if waiting for that whistle, a screech answered her, and a dark brown hawk circled her once, and was perching on her arm where she now had the leather glove on.

With another nod to the man who still gaped at her, she entered the village.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" A voice yelled from the distance as the woman stepped out of a restaurant she had just eaten at. The hawk was now on her shoulder, and it ruffled its feathers irritated, glaring towards where it heard the voice as if saying: God, keep the noise down…

"I DON'T WANT TO DO WORK!" The voice kept yelling, and it seemed to be supporting a man's voice, and plus, it was getting nearer and nearer to where she stood, listening.

"AND WHEN ARE YOU EVER GOING TO DO IT!" This time, a female voice echoed down the streets, followed by a crash. "COME BACK HERE!"

The woman was now interested. The voice of the male sounded like someone she knew from before, when she lived here. She trotted over to where she heard the voice, and peeked at the street where she now heard a crash from. The hawk only brought its head under one of his wing, and tried to take a nap, trying to ignore the noise that was interesting its owner.

There, in middle of the streets were 4 people, one obviously the Hokage with her blond hair tied in the back. The woman smiled. She knew who Tsunade was. She heard about her, and saw her before, long time ago.

The other 3 looked to be the same age, 2 glaring at a blond haired man. One of the glaring one had black hair, and his face wore irritated look. He wore a shirt with a fan on the back and regular shorts. The woman glanced at his left arm, and noticed he had bandages over one part of it. It seemed to be hiding something and she perfectly knew what it was. Anbu symbol. And the fan on his shirt. She knew that form somewhere, yet she couldn't place her finger on it. She stared at the man, wondering who he was. The first word that came into her head soon as he saw him, was: Handsome. But shaking her head sheepishly, she looked at the other one who was glaring.

The other was a woman with pink hair cropped to her shoulder, and she too, had green eyes like her own. The woman wore a shirt with a skirt, also wearing black boots that went up to her upper part of her shin. The woman seemed to be angry than irritated, glaring daggers at the blonde.

Her eyes went back to the blond man, who was yelling furiously, trying to get away from them, his eyes searching for an exit. "I'LL DO IT LATER!" He screamed. This one had 3 lines on each side of his cheeks, wearing a coat over him, with the hood off. Seemed like he was trying to sneak away with no one noticing, but apparently, he had been caught.

"NO YOU WON'T, I'M NOT FALLING FOR THAT!" Tsunade yelled, "GRAB HIM, SASUKE!"

'_Ah, Sasuke, I remember now. Uchiha Sasuke…' _The woman mused as she raised an eye brow. She stepped into the street now, grinning. Not at the Uchiha, but at the blond man who was trying to escape.

She then noticed that many people just walked by, giggling. She raised her eyebrow again, thinking that maybe this happened quite often, and the villagers were used to it. _'But then again, we are talking about the Annoying Idiot here." _The woman herself giggled as she though that, and slowly approached the 4.

Just then, Sasuke had lounged at Naruto, who hurriedly got out of the way. "SASUKE-TEME! YOU DOUBLE AGENT! TRAITOR! JERK!" The blond yelled. "YOU TOLD TSUNADE-BACHAN!"

Sasuke only shrugged. "I couldn't resist." He smirked at him. "Besides, it was my job."

The woman laughed softly at herself, now standing right near them. "What did you do now, Bakato?" She said, now looking at Naruto with a smile, her hands on her hips. The hawk now had its head out, now scanning the 4 interested now.

The 4 turned to the woman, all looking quizzically at her. It was Sasuke who stared at her the most. He frowned, bringing his eyes off of her when he realized that he'd been gaping at her. But soon he realized that he was looking at her once again. Why did he feel weird? He growled his irritation inside, wondering what this woman was making him feel this way.

But before he could finish his thoughts, Naruto reacted with explosion. "Baka what!" He screamed. "Who are you? How dare you call the next Hokage that!" He looked at her angrily.

The hawk opened its wings slightly, puffing in the air, looking dangerously at him. "Shh, he's no threat." The woman whispered to the hawk, and with that, it closed its wings, but kept its glare at him, as if saying if he does anything to her, he would see pain. "You're gonna be the next Hokage?" She turned back to Naruto who nodded proudly. "Naruto! Congratulations!" She yelled, grinning at him.

Naruto frowned. "Do I know…" He stopped, and his mouth dropped. "Minami-chan…?" He said almost in a whisper. "Is that you…? You were the only one who I allowed to call me Bakato."

"Long time no see, Naruto." She said, grinning still. "How have you been?"

Naruto suddenly rushed at her, and hugged her tightly. The bird screeched, offended, taking flight at his sudden hug. It screeched at him once again, and perched on a near by pole, glaring at Naruto. "MINAMI-CHAN!" He yelled, looking happy as ever. "MINAMI-CHAN!" He yelled again, looking at her face, and returning to the hug.

"Okay…Naruto, unless…you want to suffocate…me, I advise you…let go." She said between breaths, but giggling as well.

Naruto quickly let go, but looking into her face, he turned back into the hug. "Where have you been all this time!" He yelled. "How long has it been?"

Minami really felt like feinting then, she can hear her ribs screaming to get free. "Dobe, let her go, she's going to suffocate like she said she would." Sasuke said, now prying him off of her. He felt irritated somehow. He felt some kind of jealously when he hugged her. Jealously? When did he start feeling that?

But once again, before he could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted. This time, by Tsunade. "Minami? Suzaku Minami?" She asked, now studying the woman. "Red hair…green eyes…" Her eyes went to the jacket. "I remember you…"

Minami nodded. "I have returned from my training years." She said, bowing. "And now I ask for permanent residence in Konoha." She smiled brightly at them.

Tsunade nodded, looking dumbfounded. "When I last saw you, you said you won't be back for another 5 years!"

She nodded. "I have finished my training." She said, smiling softly. "Unless, you do not want me here?" She raised an eyebrow.

Tsunade shook her head. "No, just surprised." She said, and motioned with her hand to follow. "Come to my office, you will need to fill out paper works. Naruto?" She glared at him.

"Oh fine, because Minami-chan is here!" Naruto said, trotting after her. "Come on, Minami-chan!" He said, waving at her.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She said, laughing. With a nod and smile to the 2 others, she followed the Hokage and Hokage-to-be.

**Hokege's office**

The 3 entered the room, Tsunade going to her desk for the files, Naruto turning back to the woman. "Minami-chan, I can't believe you are back!" He grinned, his eyes dancing with joy. "It's been so long since I last saw you!"

She nodded. "Yeah, I missed you so much, Naruto." She said, giving him a half hug, not to disturb the still glaring hawk on her shoulder. "I still can't believe you are to be Hokage, though, congrats! And you certainly grew! I have to look up to see you."

Naruto's grin got wider. "I told you I will be the Hokage!" He gave her a thumb up. "I told you, when you come back, I will have the title and be taller than you!"

"Oh, you still don't have it yet. And your lack of work will make it longer away." Tsunade said, placing a small stack paper in front of Minami. "Fill this out for me Minami" She instructed as he tossed her a pen.

"Like _you_ ever do your work." Minami heard Naruto mutter and giggled. But like she was told to, she walked over to the stack of papers and started to fill it in.

"Well Naruto, my part of out promise is not full filled, sorry to say, but just like you, I am close to it." She said, filling in lines. "Promise for you was to be Hokage when I get back and my promise was to become a strong kunoichi, and become an Anbu member."

"Close? Really? For what country?" Naruto asked, looking bewildered. "You aren't leaving, are you?" He frowned at her.

"If I am, then I wouldn't be filling this out." She said, laughing. "No, I want to become anbu here. In Konoha." She turned to Tsunade, holding out the papers to her. "Tsunade-sama, I would like to be appointed anbu in your village."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her, taking the paper. "Well, I have to know how strong you are first." She said, looking through the papers.

"Oh, I can do it, but don't worry; I will be strong enough to be your anbu right here and now." She said triumphantly. "Don't underestimate my training and…what I have gone through." Her eyes flashed with sorrow for a second, but were quickly hidden with her happy eyes. "My training years will not go to waste."

Tsunade frowned as she went to last page of the paper work, and frowned. "You have a…"

"Yes," She cut in, looking worried. "I am the One of my clan." She looked at the ground. "And I am currently 17. I know the 3rd is not here, so I will explain this to you instead." She looked at Naruto, and with a small smile, she turned back to Tsunade. "Naruto…I haven't told you this, so you might want to listen in on this as well." She muttered. She looked at her hawk, peering into her face looking worried. "It's all right." She whispered to it, rubbing it in the chest. The hawk responded by rubbing its head on her cheek, making a soft noise.

She turned back to Tsunade, and told her story. "I am Minami Suzaku from Suzaku clan, which you know is a clan that comes from the Fire Bird. Each clan member has blood line limit of using fire techniques, and being able to control fire with their own will no matter where they are. But every couple of years, even a century or more, one child will take in extra power." She brought her hand to her jacket, and opening it, she revealed her neck, and on the scruff, a burn mark in shape of fire. "This means that I am the One." She closed her jacket after showing Naruto, hiding it form view. "When I turn 18, I am to take some kind of trial that will occur, with the Fire Bird determining if I am worthy to carry the power. After that, if I succeed, I am able to take its powers. Its powers will consist of more uses of fire, like making shapes with it, and getting more control and something like that. But the extra is that I will be able to take form of a fire bird." She concluded, "That is why I was on leave for these years. To train for the test."

Naruto looked at her with opened mouth, gaping at her. Tsunade, was as well, but one thing was bothering her. "What do you mean, 'if' I succeed?"

Minami looked away, anywhere but Naruto. "It means…" She stopped, and taking a breath, she continued. "If I do not pass its test, it will think I am not worthy of taking its powers, so I will…die."

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled, looking horrified. "MINAMI-CHAN!"

She turned to Naruto, and smiled. "Sorry I didn't say this to you earlier, but…I found out when I was 10, when I was far from Konoha anyway." She shrugged. "Besides, I told you, I've been training." She grinned. "I won't let it kill me."

His expression turned serious. "Is there a way to get that…whatever thing out of you? Before your 18th birthday? When is it?" He looked at her with a worried expression. He knew how it felt to have a demon inside, and he didn't want his friend to go through the same thing.

"In 2 months." She said, shrugging. "Don't worry, Naruto. I won't lose." She said, not clapping her hands onto his shoulder. "Now, back to business." She turned to Tsunade, who was staring at her with a serious face.

"What will happen at this…test?" She asked, with a frown.

"I…don't know. But I should get out of Konoha just incase if I lose control." She smiled. "I will not let anything harm your village, Tsunade-sama. I will not bring any harm, and will not cause any. Also, the only reason I came here before my trial is because I will need Naruto's help in trying to keep control, since he can, after all control the fox."

Looking into Minami's eyes, Tsunade knew her determination on that promise. She nodded to her. "All right, I will place you in anbu." She said, not shuffling through papers.

"Just like that?" Naruto asked, gaping at her now.

Tsunade nodded. "Well I saw her couple years ago. I thought she was fit to be a Jounin, so I gave her that rank. But…that was years ago. I don't think I will need to test her." She passed her a paper. "Sign there. This contract," She handed her another paper. "Will be your apartment. It is for people like you, anbu who seeks room in hidden spot." Minami nodded, signing it. "These are the keys." Tsunade said, handing over the keys while taking the papers from her with the other hand. "Room 99."

"Thank you." Minami said, bowing.

"Where's rest of your family?" Naruto suddenly asked, wondering why she was only getting one room. "Don't they need a house too?"

Minami froze on that comment, and Tsunade sighed. "Naruto, you…" When does he learn to keep his mouth shut?

"No, it's all right, I knew it was going to come sooner or later anyway." Minami said, cutting her off. "Naruto, I will tell you this on my way to my new room. You don't mind showing me where, right?"

Naruto shook his head. "All right, c'ya Tsunade-ba-chan!" He grinned, and with a wave, he dragged Minami out, the hawk screeching and taking off, glaring at Naruto once again.

"YOU BETTER COME BACK TO DO YOUR WORK!" Tsunade yelled after them, and Minami could have sworn Naruto muttered something along 'yeah right.'

Once outside, Naruto let go of Minami, and the hawk glaring still, landed on her shoulders once again. "What's that anyway?" Naruto asked, pointing at it as they started to walk towards her new home.

"Oh, he became my friend 5 years ago. His name is Taka." (Means hawk in Japanese) She ruffled its feathers, and grinned. "He's a warrior hawk as well a messenger bird. He's also good at spying too. Aren't you?" She cooed to it, to which it responded with clicking its beak.

"Oh, I see." Naruto said, grinning. "Well Minami-chan, do you want to go to dinner later? At Ichiraku? My treat!"

She laughed. "I see you haven't gotten over Ichiraku yet. But sure, I'll go. Last restaurant I went to didn't seem to like Taka being there. Do you think the owner won't mind? Since it's a stand after all."

Naruto nodded. "Nah, I think he won't mind. He said he likes animals anyway."

"All right then, let's go after I drop off my stuff in my new room." She said happily, but realizing what she promised to tell Naruto had dropped her happiness. "Naruto, about my family thing…" Naruto turned to her, not realizing that he was going to her sensitive spot. "They are…dead." She muttered the last part, looking gloomier than ever. "They were killed…by me."

Akanishi-san: So, what do you think? SasuxOc is old, huh? Well, what do you think? Please leave reviews! As I said earlier, I might make this longer or shorter depending on your reviews! XD PLEASE REVIEW!

PS: If anyone is interested, please read my last latest (since i posted this) YondaimexOc which will be a story about Naruto's parents. It's a oneshot! Ya, i havent wrote that in ages...i warn you though, its LONG!


	2. Past

Akanishi-san: Woot! Thanks for the reviews everyone! Here is ch2!

Ch2 New Anbu, New Faces

"_All right then, let's go after I drop off my stuff in my new room." She said happily, but realizing what she promised to tell Naruto had dropped her happiness. "Naruto, about my family thing…" Naruto turned to her, not realizing that he was going to her sensitive spot. "They are…dead." She muttered the last part, looking gloomier than ever. "They were killed…by me." _

"What?" Naruto whispered, stopping dead on his track, looking at her with a horrified face. "You…what? Wait…this has to be a joke, ne?" He slowly made his way to her, peering into her face, but she refused to look at him. "Obachan…Ojichan…everyone? They were so nice to me too…even though they knew about…Kyuubi…"

"I know…" Minami whispered to him, tears about to fall. "I…it was 5 years ago," She started. "We were practicing like usual, on my fire techniques and other ninjutsu…My brother…you remember him, right?" She smiled sadly at Naruto, who nodded. "Well, he met Orochimaru, I don't know where; I don't want to know either. I'm sure you know Orochimaru as well, no?" This time, she didn't look at Naruto, but looked up into the sky, her eyes glimmering. "Well…Orochimaru wanted my powers, so Brother thought to hand me over to Orochimaru. He told Mother and Father it was for the best anyway, having a cursed child was not really good in the first place."

She took a deep breath, her eyes still looking into the sky, where a bird flew over head swiftly. "I wish I was free like that bird, of this curse…" She muttered. She turned to Naruto, her smile still on, but was quivering. "I guess I got angry, at Brother, and…well, it was my 13th birthday, and I guess the Fire Bird wanted to remind me my test was coming in 5 years, so it decided to give me power or something. Next thing I knew, I had killed my brother. Next thing I knew after that, I was fighting my parents. They were I guess trying to fight the Bird off of me or something; I don't really remember what happened. It felt like the Bird took over my body. But…What I do remember is that…I killed them…" She brought her hands in front of her. "With these hands, I killed them…"

Naruto stood there, still dumbfounded. "Minami-chan…" He whispered, taking a step towards her. He reached towards her, but found himself hesitating.

Minami smiled weakly. "I'm not dangerous anymore, Naruto. Don't worry. Tsunade-sama placed a seal on me so that I will not lose control anymore. Unless, I wish upon it." She opened her jacket once more, and revealed a small seal around the burn mark, Naruto hadn't noticed earlier. She closed it once more, sighing.

Naruto was now in front of her, his mouth open. "Minami-chan…" He whispered. She smiled in response, her eyes filled with sorrow. "I'm sorry…" He said, and brought her to a hug. This time, Taka has swiftly moved away, landing on a near by pole, accepting Naruto at this moment.

"What are you saying sorry for?" Minami asked tears about to fall. "Why are you saying sorry?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up memories, and…" He mumbled on, about how sorry he was. He was still hugging her, feeling sadder than ever. He wanted to help her, but reviving the dead was not possible. What can he do?

She smiled softly. She knew something had changed Naruto, and was glad. "Nah, I was going to tell you soon anyway." She pulled herself away and looked at him in the face. "Listen Naruto, no word of this to anyone else, all right? Promise?"

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Right! I won't tell anyone."

She nodded. "Good. Naruto, now let's get ourselves to my room so we can go eat at Ichiraku!" He punched the air and trotted ahead. "Come on slowpoke!" She yelled behind herself.

"Gah! I'm coming!" Naruto yelled, and ran after her.

"Taka?" Minami looked up into the air, seeing the hawk gliding towards them. She extended her arm to let him drop on her arm, but the hawk surprisingly landed on Naruto's shoulder gracefully. Naruto looked bewildered at it. At that, Minami had to laugh. "It seems Taka had accepted you, Naruto."

"Oh really?" Naruto exclaimed happily, looking at the hawk who was now peering into his face, its head cocked to one side. "Yay!" He cheered, rubbing its chest. "My name's Naruto, the future Hokage!"

The hawk straightened and puffed the air, and screeched softly. "He says hello as well." Minami said, giggling. "All right, let's get going!" She said again, and grabbing Naruto's arm, they headed off to where her room was.

**Room**

"Oh wow!" Minami said, walking into her new room. "This is just for me?" She looked into the room, and entered it. There was a kitchen, a rather large one for a single person room, a table and chairs accompanied it. The room next to it was medium sized, bigger room than the kitchen, and it had a sofa, a fire place and a medium sized TV. She then trotted over to her bedroom, where a bed with light green sheets over it, with nice comfy pillows. She then noticed another room, to which she entered curiously. In the room was her anbu gears, a desk with file cabinets and a bookshelf.

Naruto entered the room with Taka still perched on him, but soon as he entered the room, the hawk had taken off and had landed on a podium, used for birds. "I guess Tsunade-bachan knew what you will need." Naruto said to Minami who had come back from her exploring.

"Yeah, she was pretty quick with it." She said, noting the extra supply of food for her hawk friend. "Would you like this or ramen?" She asked the hawk, who was now preening himself. The hawk looked up, and puffed the air, and returned to preening. "All right, just don't get in trouble." She said, opening the food and placing it in a dish next to the podium. The hawk stopped preening and made a soft sound and returned to preening again.

Naruto looked at her weirdly. "It's like you guys know what you guys say." He said, looking at the hawk now.

"Well 5 years together kind of made us know what each other are thinking. Plus, Taka here was already smart form the beginning." With that, she petted the hawk, and exited the room with Naruto.

"ICHIRAKU!" Naruto yelled, running towards the stand, and entered it with enthusiasm. "Look who I brought today!" He yelled with a grin at the owner, who was talking to another. Sasuke. "Eh? Sasuke?" Naruto asked, surprised. He hadn't seen Sasuke at Ichiraku in ages. Only time he saw come in was because Naruto had always dragged him in with him.

Sasuke looked up, and nodded in acknowledgement. "I heard you skipped today's work." He said, taking a sip of water.

"Who are you talking to?" Minami asked, now entering. She then noticed the Uchiha, who was looking at her. "Oh." She said simply, and smiled. "Hello Sasuke-san."

He nodded. "I only know you as Minami." He replied.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry. That was rude of me. I am Suzaku Minami." She extended a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Sasuke took the hand, and shook it. "I am Uchiha Sasuke."

Minami nodded, taking note of that. But before she could say more, the owner was talking to her. "Minami-chan?" He asked, looking surprised.

Minami turned to him, grinning. "Nice to see you again."

He grinned back. "Minami-chan! I can't believe you're back!" He said, extending a hand out to her.

Grinning, she took it. "I just came back about noon today. I decided to eat at your place for tonight."

"Thanks!" He said, and added, "I'll give you extra stuff on your ramen, all right?" With another look at her, he returned to work.

"Thanks." Minami said, and sat down next to Sasuke, Naruto sitting down on the other side of her. She turned to Naruto, who was smiling happily. "Well Naruto, or shall I say Hokage-sama?"

Naruto blushed, dropping the chopsticks he had on his hand. "Arg…" He said, turning redder.

Minami raised her eyebrows at him. Seeing her confusion, Sasuke told her what was wrong with him. "Dobe gets shy when someone calls him that."

Minami giggled. "Haha, Hokage-sama being shy!" She twirled a finger in front of him, mocking him with a grin. "Ho-ka-ge-sa-ma!" she said, placing a long pause in each word.

Naruto turned redder if possible, and hid his face in his hands. "MINAMI-CHAN! SASUKE!" He yelled angrily. "You ARE a double agent, aren't you!" He accdused the Uchiha.

Sasuke just took another sip and retorted "Well if I am working under you, Tsunade and Minami-san here, that would make is triple agent."

Minami bursted out laughing, pointing a finger at him, tears forming form laughter. So Sasuke was the one that changed Naruto. Sasuke was also supporting a smile on his lips, however, looking at Minami and not at Naruto. He felt weird with her next to him, laughing. Before everyone could see his smile, he whipped it off replacing it with a mask.

"Dobe." He muttered.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled, growling. "Good thing to do, embarrass me in front of my friend who I just met up couple hours ago!"

"Oh, don't worry, I knew you were stupid from before!" Minami said, giggling.

Naruto shot a glare at Minami. "HEY!"

She kept laughing, and adding more comments on what she remembered form before. She kept laughing, and before she knew it, she had lost balance, and was falling backwards.

Before she could defend herself from the fall or anything, two strong arms stopped her from tumbling to the ground. She looked into the dark eyes belonging to no other than the Uchiha, who was now pushing her up into the chair.

"Thanks." She muttered, blushing. She felt so weird. She hadn't had any other person with opposite gender touch her for support like that in ages. Naruto was an exception however, since she knew him from before. Or…was it something different? Did she feel something different towards him? The Uchiha?

"HA! WHO'S THE CLUTZ NOW!" Naruto laughed this time, breaking Minami thoughts and to glare at Naruto.

She puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. "Pft." She said, and turned towards the table.

Naruto stopped laughing loudly, but was still laughing, just not as loud…if that was possible. "Remember that time when you almost ran into one of the trees?"

Minami frowned at him with a glare. "That was ages ago." She pointed out.

"Yeah, but remember?" He asked, trying to suppress his laugh.

Before she could shoot comments on how Naruto was earlier ages, a delicious smell made her turn to the table, where the owner was now placing 3 ramen in front of them, the one in front of Minami full with extra toppings on it.

She grinned widely. "Thanks!" She said, and breaking her chopsticks, she dug in. "I ate ramen in other countries, but it's not good as this on here, Ichiraku! Good as always!" She gave a thumb up to the owner, who grinned at her.

"It is, isn't it?" Naruto said between mouthfuls.

Sasuke silently ate his, enjoying his company. He never felt so comfortable, well, except Naruto, of course. Naruto always had this atmosphere that made everyone welcome, but a female?

They ate with random conversations, mainly about Minami's experiences in other countries, and about what happened in Konoha while her absence.

"I'm so full…" Minami said, placing her chopsticks back to the bowl, sighing in happiness. "I haven't eaten a full stomach for so long."

"Really?" Naruto asked, surprised.

Minami nodded. "Yeah, being a traveler-nin and well with not much of good money income, also with a hawk that has a different stomach for each hour is hard to keep up." She grinned.

"Minami-san, Sasuke-san, and Naruto-sama." Someone asked behind them.

The 3 turned to the newcomer, who wore an anbu outfit. "Yes?" Minami asked.

The anbu turned to her, and said, "You are to report in Tsunade-sama's office at 7 tomorrow morning. Your mission starts tomorrow. Sasuke-san, you are to come to her office at 7:30. You and Minami-san will work together in this particular mission. It involves just you two, Sasuke-san, you will not need to bring any other people. Naruto-sama, you are to come to her office at 7 sharp. You are to work, she says."

Naruto winced. "Aww…" He muttered.

Minami nodded. "All right, thank you for informing me." The anbu nodded, and disappeared.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, and said, "Your house is over there, so take Minami-chan home, will you? It's on your way anyway. C'ya at the Old Fart's office you guys!" And he was off before they could say a word.

Minami chuckled. "Always on the run." She said, and turned to the Uchiha. "Well then, let's go home, shall we?" She grinned.

Sasuke found himself smiling back, nodding and walking with her towards her home. "Where do you live?" He asked, breaking the short silence.

"Oh, I live in the apartment for the anbu reserved place thing." She said. "I don't know what you call it though." She laughed softly.

Sasuke nodded. It was on his way home. It was exactly on his way home, just couple blocks away too. "I guess I will be directing you tomorrow then, Minami-san."

Minami turned to him, frowning. "You mean you are the…?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, I am one of the anbu captains." He smiled. "Did you think someone else would be in the position? Someone older?"

Minami shook her head. "No, I wasn't that surprised, actually. The way the anbu looked at you and the tone he used talking to you kind of gave it away." She shrugged. "But I did expect someone older." She admitted. "Not that I think you are not powerful." She added quickly.

"You calculated that I was one of the anbu captains just by looking at that anbu?" Sasuke asked, this time, he was surprised.

Minami nodded. "Yeah, I just don't trust people anymore." She shrugged. "I have to look into their eyes, listen to their tone, and look how they look at me before I can be sure." She looked away. "Let's leave it at I lived in a hard life, all right? I don't want to talk about it now. Maybe I will another time."

Sasuke nodded, accepting that. He wanted to ask if she trusted him though. He wanted to know that. It was going to bug him for days, he realized. But…why did she make him feel that way? What was so special about her and not any other females of the village? Normally he would not care what others thought, especially a female. However…she was an exception. He could not place a finger on why though.

Noticing the confused atmosphere on Sasuke, Minami chuckled. "Don't worry Uchiha-san, I trust you." She said, smiling. "I am telling the truth. Friends of Naruto, I will always trust."

He now, found himself sighing in relief. "Thank god." He muttered. Realizing that he said it aloud, he quickly added while blushing, "Because if you didn't trust me, then the missions will not work as smoothly."

Minami raised an eyebrow. Being a good reader for their expressions, she knew exactly why he was relieved. She blushed, and a smile was on her lips. "Well Uchiha-san, I will see you tomorrow." She said, now realizing that they were standing in front of her apartment.

Sasuke nodded. "Tomorrow at 7:30."

"Tomorrow at 7:30." She nodded.

Akanishi-san: Woot! Another long chappie! I'm surprised I'm writing this long!

**BTW REVIEWERS:**

Sasuke-Clan-San: Oh...someone needs to take a chill pill. Lol. Well anyway, thanks for reviewiing! Im glad you like this one as well!

RainingHeart: Hehe, here's the next chappie! Thanks for coming to read this!

icydragon14: Im glad to see you like this story. Please keep on reading!

mangagurl101: Woot! Im so glad to see faces from my other fics! Thanks!

JapanAnimeGirl: Hehe, it's all right. The NejixOc is complete though, btw. That's why I started this one.


	3. Mission Begins

Akanishi-san: Mmm, sadly, lately I haven't been too keen on updating this. > Ah well, here is the chapter.

Ch3

"Ouch." Minami muttered as she felt needles on her left shoulder. She had reached Tsunade's office at 7, and the only reason she was called in early was to place her anbu tattoo on her. "Is this…really necessary?" She asked as she winced again. She _hated_ needles, and there was no reason why she would ever like them, who would anyway?

"Oh come on, Minami. It's only needles. It's not going to kill you! You are going to become an anbu, when you are afraid of needles?" Tsunade retorted as she finished the mark off. "Now, its over." She stood up, examining the tattoo. "Sasuke should arrive any minute, are you ready?" She asked, shuffling through papers now.

Minami nodded as she got a mask of a bird on her, her hawk Taka swiftly landing on her soon as he saw that Tsunade was done. "Yes, ready." She said, making one last check on herself. She turned to Naruto, who was scribbling on pieces of paper. "You have fun with that." She chuckled at him. "Paper work, woot."

Naruto groaned and threw his pen onto the desk. "Can I go with them?" He pleaded to Tsunade. "It's a mission for Gaara right?" He whined.

Minami's eyes widened. "Gaara as in Kazekage Gaara?" She whispered, her eyes huge.

((AN: for those of you who doesn't know, Gaara becomes the Kazekage.))

Tsunade turned to her and nodded. "Yes, that Gaara. I'm not surprised you know him, since he asked for you to come."

Before she could continue, Sasuke entered the room, looking slightly irritated. He looked at Minami and gave her a nod in greeting and to Naruto as well, who had gone back to his papers. "So what does Gaara need?" He asked casually, but his irritation still on him.

Tsunade's inside laughed. She knew why this young Uchiha was irritated. Jealousy. But, keeping her serious face on, she explained. "Gaara is getting invasions from the Snow. He requested for fire jutsu users. Especially you," She looked at Minami. "I guess he knows your fire abilities, and you guys are friends?"

Minami nodded. "Yes, I met him during my travels. He and I…of course, Naruto as well, we understand something others don't…" She looked at the ground gloomily.

Sasuke frowned. What do Gaara and Naruto have in common with her? Demon? No, it can't be, there is no strange feeling to her. After Sasuke became an anbu, he went through training to detect those kind of things, and he felt nothing from her. This irritated him even more.

Tsunade, either ignoring or not noticing his irritation, continued. "Anyway, Gaara has asked for you two to help him during battle. He knows that many people will strike Sand, and he fears that his people will get involved. He wants to fight outside the village, and in order to do that, he wants to place a fire technique barrier on it." She looked at Minami. "I'm sure you know what he is talking about."

Minami nodded. "I know." She said, looking determined. "And he knew that I needed someone else, so you chose Sasuke, for his Sharingan?"

Tsunade nodded. "Good. Now, quickly, go. He expects you at the Sand in 4 days. Dismissed."

Hearing her dismissal, the two left silently, Minami waving a good-bye to Naruto before she left the room.

**Outside Somewhere **

Sasuke and Minami ran through the forest covering Konoha, quickly and keeping their fast pace up. Taka was flying high in the air, acting as a lookout. Even if Gaara expects them to be there in 4 days, they were determined to get there earlier. Minami, because they were friends, Sasuke because he wants to complete all of his missions perfectly.

"During this battle, we will see many killed and you will have to kill as well." Sasuke said, breaking the silence as they hopped form tree to tree. "Have you been in real battle fields before?"

Minami nodded gloomily. "Trust me…I know…I killed people I really regret on killing…" She closed her hands tightly, trying to erase the memory for now. "I haven't been through all these trainings for nothing, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke nodded. "Just making sure." He muttered, feeling embarrassed. In truth, he just wanted to break the silence. He didn't know what to say, so he just said what he said. He wanted to sound strong in a way, but it offended her a little. His insides hoped that she was not angry with him.

Minami chuckled as she kept on running, a step behind Sasuke. "But, since this is a partner work, I am hoping that you will be watching my back. After all, we are going to go against many other people."

Sasuke blushed under his mask which was a tiger mask. He felt him mutter few words before they fell into a comfortable silence. "I will protect you."

**Hidden Sand, just because I'm lazy to write what happens**

"Kazekage-sama!" Someone yelled, running into his office.

Gaara looked up from his papers, looking irritated. All the battle that was occurring was getting on his nerves. He really didn't like battle. Not when it was costing lives. He was losing many people out there, but look at where he is. In his office, safe. If only the 2 Konoha Ninjas got here, he can safely leave knowing that the village is protected.

"What?" He asked, shuffling into papers. "Make is quick, I need to do this."

The man saluted. "The Konoha ninjas arrived. They are coming right now."

Gaara looked up from his papers, letting sigh of relief escape. "Send them here, quickly." He ordered, getting up. "Dismissed."The man saluted him once more, and ran out. "Finally…" He said aloud. He wanted to go out there, but he wanted to stay here as well, to protect his village. Now he had the best defense with the fire ninjas here.

"Gaara!" Minami yelled, throwing herself onto him. Gaara stepped backwards from the sudden weight, but did not push her off. "I haven't seen you in ages!" Taka, knowing that she was going to hug him, had gracefully took off and was now perched on a podium, placed there just for him.

Gaara nodded, feeling glares from Sasuke. He also knew why the Uchiha looked angry. But he felt nothing towards Minami. Sure, she was his friend, but nothing more. But he wasn't going to say that right now. "Minami, reunion later. Hurry."

Minami nodded, jumping off of him. "I'm on it, Sasuke-san please follow me." She said, exiting the room, Gaara and Sasuke behind her. They walked through many rows and rows of market, but no one was outside. They were inside, alert for anything. She nodded to herself, acknowledging how well Gaara was as Kazekage. They seem to really trust him…that was good. "Is this the center of your village?" She asked Gaara as she stopped at a clearing, where a tall post stood.

((AN: For those times I made Minami call Sasuke Uchiha-san, erase to Sasuke-san))

Gaara nodded. "Yes, it is the center of my village. Will I be able to exit your defenses?" He asked, soon as he saw her order Taka to get off of her shoulder and bit her thumb.

Minami nodded, now crouching down and marking the ground with her blood to a seal. The seal circled the post, and the post started to give off a hum. "You will be able to enter and exit. But in order to do that, I will need to exit with you, and enter with you. Don't worry; the spell will not go away, even if I die. It will stay until someone says the dispelling word, which is 'hope.'" She walked over to Sasuke, and pushed him into the circle gently. "Soon as you say that word with a tiger sign followed by snake, it will be removed. The negative part of this is that the people will not be able to exit unless I am with them. So, bring your forces out now."

Gaara nodded. He turned to a man who was now kneeling in front of him. "Order every anbu team except 4, 11, 21, and 31 to get out, armed for battle. Also, ask for the special Jounins to leave, and other Jounins who are not already assigned to duty to leave as well. The others, I have already told to stay. Also, tell the jounin teams 5 and 7 to stay, and guard all the entrances, and make sure absolutely no one exits without her aid." He jerked his thumb at Minami. The man nodded, and was off.

After a minute, a bird's cry was called. "You may continue." Gaara said, looking over at Minami, who nodded in reply.

"Sasuke-san, please copy me." She said, bringing her hand to a tiger sign. Without questioning, Sasuke brought his hands to a tiger sign, his Sharingan blazing. Soon as she knew he was ready, she entered through series of complex rows of seals. "Gaara, I hope you will cushion his fall." She whispered, and slammed her hand on to the seal she had created, Sasuke following her, not knowing what was going to happen.

Now he did.

Soon as his hand connected the seal, he felt power on his hand, and warmth. Fire? And something soft…feathers? But before he could analyze what he was feeling, he was thrown backwards with a blinding light as well. He landed on the soft sand, looking surprised. He then looked up to see Minami holding her ground, wincing as the power tried to blow her off, but she held on.

"FUU!" She yelled, and finally, the power let her go, and her knees gave, falling onto them, but on soft sand Gaara created for her.

Sasuke's eyes widened. From the post, the seal, a large bright red bird, the Suzaku emerged form it. The head came out first, its emerald green eyes blazing, and its feather on the head swooshing in the wind. Then, the body, the wing was enormous. It spread its wings, and the long feather tail came out, which has green emerald jewelries on it.

Soon as it emerged from the seal completely, it swooped up into the air, and after a screech, the massive wing covered the village completely, as if protecting it from harm. Soon as it covered the place, a burning red half sphere now covered the village, with no openings and cracks.

Minami slowly stood up, looking up to her work. Taka swiftly flew towards her, and landed on her shoulder, peering into her face for injuries. Minami rubbed a finger on its chest, grinning. She then turned to Sasuke, who was still on the ground, looking surprised still. "Well Sasuke-san, job well done. Couldn't have done it without you." She stretched her hand towards him, grinning, intending on helping him up.

Sasuke took her hand, and was pulled up with her help. He still felt shaky from the sight he saw, and to the powers he felt. He looked up to ask her a question, on what that was, but he was cut off by Gaara. "Let's get going." He muttered eager to go help his people outside, in battle.

Minami nodded. "Right, but before we exit…" She made some complex symbols. "I know your sand protects you Gaara, but just incase." She made her last symbol, and a ring of fire surrounded Gaara and for a while it was around him, circling, but soon faded. "It will protect you from Snow attacks." She explained, doing it to Sasuke as well. "Automatically too. Since you can't see it, they won't suspect it to be there. They will use their snow attacks; they will deflect and melt against my fire." She grinned. "Now, let's get going." Sasuke looked at his own ring of fire as it disappeared, placing his hand on where it was, as if seeing if it will burn. Minami giggled. "No, it will not harm the one it's protecting, Sasuke-san. Trust me." She said, smiling.

Caught off guard, Sasuke blushed. "Erm, it's not that, I was just surprised at the technique…and the defense system as well. Is it your blood-line?" He asked her, now almost regaining his control. Every time she smiled, he felt his heart twist, and he didn't like it…yet, it pleased him. For her to smile at him.

Minami shook her head. "Well, the fire protecting you guys are my blood-line work. Everyone in Suzaku clan can control fire. But…the bird defense thing…only I can do." She looked at her feet.

Sasuke felt himself frown. He made her feel uneasy! AGAIN! But Gaara was not having any of this. Not during a war! "Let's move on!" He urged them, walking swiftly to the gates.

Minami nodded, happy that he had changed the subject. "Coming!" She cheered happily, and turning back to Sasuke, she said, "Come on!"

Sasuke only nodded, he too, happy that he had changed the subject. But…the way Gaara acted, it was as if he knew what was making her uneasy. Gaara knows whatever it was, but he doesn't…Gaara has understanding that can share with Minami…he doesn't. Those thoughts filled his head as he followed them to the gates. He was getting gloomier every step he took.

Finally reaching the gate, Gaara was about to head out, but Minami pulled him back abruptly. "I told you, you can't exit without me." Gaara looked at himself in surprise. How come he forgot? He nodded to Minami, who smiled. "If you went straight out, this would have happened." She said, and kicking a small pebble to the barrier, the 3 saw it suddenly blaze up soon as it touched the barrier, burning into ashes, to nothing. "Oh, and this is about the same thing with your fire protection. Except the shied around you will change shape to whatever necessary. All right, stay close to me, unless you just feel like getting burned to death, all right?"

To that, the two nodded. Minami smiled, and having Taka adjust his spot on her shoulder so she could form seals, she made 3 seals in a row, seals that were not known to Sasuke or Gaara. "Kai…" She whispered, and bringing 2 fingers up, she placed them on the barrier.

Sasuke was about to pull her back, horrified that she might get burned, but instead, Gaara pulled him back. "She's a specialist on fire." He muttered to him, looking irritated.

Sasuke turned back to Minami, sure enough, her finger was not burned at all, and she was however making a small hole around where she stood. She smiled, and pushing herself more, she made a bigger hole, and after releasing more chakra into it, she made a hole big enough for all 3 to pass. Motioning to them, she told them to come out. Soon as they were safely out, did she move out. Soon as she was out, the fire filled the hole, and the barrier was once again completely covered.

Gaara inspected the place, and nodding his approval, he started to walk to where he knew the most battle occurred. However, before he even took a step, someone else came out of the forests, aiming a snow attack to the Kazekage. "DIE!" He yelled, and whirled the attack, but of course, Minami's fire protection rose, and protected him, his sand not moving, the snow dissolving from the fire effectively. The attacker looked surprised, and before he could go and warn anyone, Minami had swiftly ended his life.

"Let's get moving." She said, and dropping back, she stood next to Gaara, Sasuke on the other side to protect him if necessary.

The three ran through the forest, occasionally running into some enemies, but Minami, Sasuke or Gaara ended their lives quickly and cleanly. As they ran through, the 3 noticed that the numbers of attackers were gradually decreasing. As if, they weren't attacking them on purpose. Waiting.

Minami stopped at a tree branch, as did the others, looking around carefully. "Where is the battle you want to go to, Gaara?" She whispered over to Gaara, a kunai out to defend herself if needed.

"It is near here, a little more to the North." Gaara said, also scanning the place, eyes narrow. He didn't trust this eerie silence. Neither did Sasuke, he had his kunai out, his sharingan activated as well, scanning the area thoroughly. "I wish I can just…go…" He muttered. "My people are in danger, and all I did was sitting, and now, I'm caught…" Gaara looked around, trying to find the mysterious person who has been tracking them all this time.

A chuckle came from the bushes. The funny thing was that the chuckle came from all directions around them. It was only one person, yet…and Sasuke knew who it was. He felt himself grip his kunai tighter, his eyes narrowing, growl on his throat.

The chuckle came again, once he heard that name. "Hello, everyone." The voice said. Those yellow, snake eyes appeared in front of them, from the bushes. They stared at the 3 ninjas, who now knew who it was.

Orochimaru.

Akanishi-san: Ohh Cliffie hanger Haha. Yeah, as you probably can tell, Sasuke is SO going to be OOC. But then again, what story is not OOC?

**BTW REVIEWERS**

RainingHeart: I'm really glad you like it. Please keep on reading! I need every support I can have!

DarkStarr101: Hehe, yes, and this is the next chappie! Hope you like it!

Desolate-Soul: Evil minions? Ahhhaaa! NO EVIL MINIONS! I SHALL SEND MY OWN EVIL MINIONS AFTER YOU! lol. jk. well, not if you do send your evil minions, but i did update so you cant, so I won't see your minions, so I don't have to send out mine, and I'm getting confused. XD

Uchiha-Clan-San: Ah, well it's all right, I'm happy that you read it, and that's enough. Thanks! And good luck with that!


	4. Troubles

Akanishi-san: Uh...so much HW...sorry for the delat of update.

Ch4

Minami instinctively jumped in front of Gaara, going into battle stance, ready. Orochimaru chuckled. "Well, well, what do we have here?" He eyed the girl carefully, and his eyes looked at where her burn mark was which was hidden underneath her clothes. "Red hair, green eyes…you must be Minami…Your brother was very useless, I must say."

Minami tensed, glaring at him. She hated him, from bottom of her heart. She remembered her brother, he was always caring, so nice, but…soon as he met Orochimaru, he changed. "What did you do to my brother?" She snarled, bringing her weapon up.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Why, nothing. I had just told him some facts that would have helped his family." He jumped backwards swiftly as Minami threw the kunai at him, glaring. "The one who actually did something to him was…" He paused, looking at her with a smile. "You. You had killed him."

Minami froze, horrified. How did he know? And…it was as if he enjoyed this. She narrowed her eyes, growl escaping her lips. She knew that, she knew that fact, that she had killed her family. But…he started it…Didn't he? Or did it start as soon as she was born? How did her parents react to see the mark on her? Horrified maybe? Scared? Even hatred?

"My dear," Orochimaru started again, which gave Minami goose bumps. "You are still welcome to come to my side, and work under me. You are very special, with that power of yours, and you could be a good use to me." He looked over her. "And I like people who kill their own loved ones." He ended with a smirk.

Those words hurt her greatly, anger was surfacing so much that she was about to lose control. Ninjas were not supposed to lose control, but the words he said to her was bothering her so much, she wanted to fight him now, and end his life, painfully.

However, when she turned around to tell Gaara and Sasuke to leave, she was hit with another shock and anger. "What did you do to them!" She yelled, turning back to Orochimaru. Behind her, where Gaara and Sasuke were, no one was there. She remembered that she had jumped in front of Gaara soon as he approached, but…did she remember what they did after wards? Surely, if Gaara was here, he would have interfered with his conversation soon as he started to talk about her family.

"They weren't here from the first place." Orochimaru said, rather amused. "I'm surprised you fell for it. And well, the other 2 as well. They are traveling with fake you, over to the Hidden Snow fight against Sand."

Minami growled, taking out more kunai, and placing them on her fingers, adjusting them so they formed a claw on her hand. "Then I suggest you release me from this jutsu, and them as well. I am on a mission, to protect the Kazekage, and that will not happen as long as I am not with him."

"No, I think I won't." He replied casually. "Unless you vow to work under me, I will not release you, and I will not release the fake you fighting with them at this moment." He paused. "Of course, the fake you is not totally you, so if I command to her to kill Gaara this instant, he can be killed, thinking that you have betrayed him."

Horror struck her, her mind racing. She had no intention on going to work under him, and she had no intention of his ordering her other self to kill Gaara, who also understood the same pain. There was only one thing for her to do, to fight to escape.

Without a warning, she had leaped from where she was, her hand with the kunai claw jabbing at him as he jumped backwards from it. "Feisty, aren't you?" She heard him say, but she didn't care, the only thing she needed to concentrate was to get out of here, by either damaging Orochimaru enough to release the jutsu, or ending his life to get out.

Minami spun on her position, bringing to a kick, which Orochimaru guarded, and slamming her hand on the ground, she kicked at him from there, but again, he leaped backwards and it had missed. Leaping onto her feet quickly, she threw the kunais in her hand. The kunais were again dodged, but one successfully nipped at him on one shoulder, but he didn't even flinch.

But she didn't wait to see if it had an effect, for she had started to make symbols. "Katon: Yama no Orochi!" She yelled, and from around her, 7 snake heads of fire leaped at Orochimaru, all trying to devour him. Orochimaru however, calmly made seals and in a flash, he was gone with kawarimi, now his real self standing on a tree branch.

"As I heard, great fire techniques. Was that one original, though?" He asked, amusement in his voice.

Minami didn't even look at him, but was making another seal. On her last symbol, she looked at him in his eyes, anger clearly written on her face. "Katon: Honou no Mai!" Balls of fire now appeared, all zigzagging towards him, so fast and crazily, that it was hard to follow even one of them.

Orochimaru, however had a smirk on his face. The fire hit him squarely, or so in Minami's eyes they looked so, but soon as the smoke cleared, Orochimaru was not there, but a burnt log was there in place of him.

Minami cursed as she looked around. Her emotions had started to show, and it wasn't good. Anger. That was about to show, and losing control of her emotions would lead to death. "COME OUT!" She yelled, anger boiling with in her, but keeping her cool still.

Again, from all directions around her, the voice echoed through the forest. "My, my, temper, temper, temper." He chuckled. "Your brother was like that at first too. He was angry with me, but…he changed as I told him my side of the story about you."

Minami growled, trying to find out where he was. She was going to burn the forest 360 degrees, but thought better of it. She needed to save all chakra to help Gaara soon as she gets out. Besides, burning forests was something she didn't like to do. Wild life has been something she always wants to protect.

…Wild life…Taka! How could she have forgotten? Of course! Because he was acting as a spy from the sky, he probably could not have been affected by what ever jutsu Orochimaru did to him! Minami found herself grinning, and placing her fingers on her lip, she made a high pitched whistle, so loud that it echoed through the forest.

"What was that for?" Amused Orochimaru's voice asked alertness in it now as well.

Minami smirked. "TAKA!" She yelled, and making a seal, she sent out a fire bird up in the sky, and the fire bird spread its wings, and after making a war cry, it disappeared. But answering to its call was a high pitched cry, from her hawk friend, Taka. He had heard, and was now probably informing Sasuke and Gaara.

Minami before they left she had made sure both Gaara and Sasuke knew the signals Taka makes. She showed them how Taka will inform them if enemy was near by, how he would inform them if friends were near by. She also showed them his own encoding with tree branches, leaves, and things, all meaning different things. For example, if enemy was near by, he would fly in small tight circles, and soon as they understood, he would gather leaves to equal the numbers of enemies. Pebbles, for multiples of 10, and branches for more than 50, or in danger of too many against what they have now. She also showed them his own way of talking, with his screeches and hums. And that last call had been "Confirmed" And she had also taught him and told the others, the meaning and the signal for "Trap."

"Looks like they are now not in danger of your clone." Minami said, now with amusement in her voice. "Taka will inform them."

Orochimaru frowned, from the tree he stood in. Who the heck was Taka? But no matter, he can take Minami here, and get it over with, just incase if the 2 ninjas did find out about the clone, and the fact that they might come back scared him a little. 3 well trained ninjas was not something he wanted to fight at this moment.

"Oh, don't worry, my Snow ninjas will at least slow them a bit if they do come back to get you." He heard himself saying as he thought quickly on what to do.

Minami tensed. "Your…snow ninjas?" She asked, suspicious.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Yes, I had manipulated them a bit, so hey would have to seek and battle the Sand in order to gain power. I have also threatened some families there to fight for me."

"You did WHAT!" She yelled, now anger boiling again. "Do you know how many lives are dying out there? It's all because of you?" She found herself yelling at a tree, where she sensed him. "You manipulated them, threatened them, just for your case?"

"Yes." Was the simple answer. "They are my game pieces, don't you see? Pawns. But don't worry, you will not be a pawn to me, you will be a more powerful piece."

"You are…heartless…" Was the answer he got.

"I know, and I take that as a compliment."

"All those lives…" She muttered, her head was facing the ground. "When I killed my family, I vowed, never to let anyone innocent die…" Fire now circled her dangerously, wind picking the fire up high as well, circling her. "I will put a stop to this war this instant!"

Fire now completely engulfed her, and Orochimaru was sincerely afraid. Chakra was dangerously surrounding her, more than what he had as well! Just like Naruto…she was showing anger, and that had triggered maybe some of the Fire Bird's powers. Or was it lending a hand again, to kill? This time not her family, but him.

The fire now was swirling behind her, and as it slowly stopped circling around her, he felt shivers run down his spine as he saw the green emerald eyes gleaming at him dangerously. The fire behind her now had formed a large wing, with a tail as well. A burning red fire wing and tail was now in place, her eyes now in shade of darker green.

"I will…kill you…" Those words escaped her mouth, and in an instant, she was behind Orochimaru, kicking him on the back that sent him flying into a tree. She took a step forward, but her knees buckled at that time, sending her to the floor. She winced, and clutched her head. "NO!" She yelled, shaking her head. "Don't use my body!" The wing around her flapped viciously, as if trying to make her get up and fight. "NO!" She yelled again, and the wing stopped, and before it could do even more damage, sand suddenly covered her whole body, wing, tail and all.

"Calm down…" Gaara's cool voice said as he walked next to a big round sand dome he had created. "I will finish this."

"No! I will!" Someone else's voice said, someone Minami could not understand inside the dome, her wings slowly shrinking in size, her emotions leveling again.

"Oh…the Snow village's leader…" Orochimaru's amused voice said, chuckling. "Did you happen to over hear what I said earlier?"

"I heard it all right! Kill him!" The man yelled, and in an instant, Minami heard foot steps landing into the clearing, and crashes.

Silence followed for a while, until the man cursed loudly. "He got away!" He yelled, him and his men looking around for Orochimaru. "He got away!" He yelled again frustrated.

"Yes, I know." Gaara's even voice answered him, and slowly, the sand around her started to fall. "Minami?" His voice asked.

Minami looked up, to see light too bright, and many men and women, ninjas around her. Her fire wings and tail had disappeared, and her eyes turned lighter, to her usual color. "I'm fine." She muttered. She was exhausted, and she had almost let her power get her control again!

Gaara slowly approached her, and saw that she was shaking. From the cold? No. Shaking in fear. He frowned. "Uchiha." He said, turning to the Uchiha who was looking quite angry.

Why didn't he notice? That thought had been spinning in his head soon as Taka had said it was fake, and he was thinking of that when Minami was in danger too! He couldn't help her! What ever Orochimaru did to her, he couldn't stop it! And those dark green eyes and that red wings and tail…they had made him pause and calculate them in, while Gaara had taken action without hesitation. He had failed to protect her, as he said he would.

"Uchiha." Gaara's voice cut through his thoughts.

Sasuke looked up at him sharply. "Yeah?" He asked, still angered.

"You are dismissed. Snow and Sand will sign a peace treaty, especially since it was really not their fault." He paused, and looked over to Minami who was staring into open space. "And I will take care of her as well. I will send her back soon as I find her fit to go back."

"But—" Sasuke was cut off by Gaara's sharp look. He dropped his gaze. Like Minami had said earlier, maybe Gaara did understand something more about her and him, and it was angering him as well…but, for now, he had to accept it. She needed rest, he knew that. And Tsunade had asked for him to return soon as it's over, for there was another problem arousing. "Understood." He muttered.

Gaara nodded and turned to Minami. "Can you stand?" He asked her.

Minami nodded slowly, and she tried to get up, but she found that she couldn't. Her knees were buckled, and she had no energy to do so. Taka peered at her worriedly from Gaara's shoulder. He made a soft noise, to which Minami smiled to him. "I'm fine, Taka. Just tired." She said.

Gaara said nothing, but his sand slowly and gently picked her up to her feet. "Need the crutches?" He asked.

Minami laughed softly and nodded. "Sorry for the trouble."

With a motion with his hand, the leader of Snow, his personal guards, and most of the Sand ninjas followed him. Most snow ninjas had gone the other way, to their homes, while some sand ninjas leaped away to tell the others that the war is over.

"I'll see you later, Sasuke-san." Were the last words Sasuke heard from her as she and the others walked away.

What surprised him the most was how empty her eyes were, and how empty she looked. Like she was drained from everything. And He couldn't help. He couldn't' say a word as she walked away. He did nothing. And he knew it.

Akanishi-San: OMFG…I'm tired of typing! I'm gonna collapse soon…please review….I'm gonna die…

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	5. Promise

Akanishi-san: Urg. Sorry for the late update. I just got back from Japan! Woot! lol. Anyway, here it is!

Ch5

Sasuke looked back once more before he went into the Konoh gate. He sighed as he noted AGAIN, that she was not there. He had been checking back so many times, hoping she would be there, grinning and telling him everything was all right.

But everything wasn't all right. He had failed to protect her. After he said he would, too! He sighed once again as he checked back, as he knocked on the Hokage's door.

"Enter." Was Tsunade's voice, with Naruto's groans.

"Better not be another file working…" Sasuke heard him mutter as he entered, but soon as Naruto saw that it was him, his face brightened up. "You guys are back!" He yelled, jumping up. "So, what was going on? How's Gaara?"

At his name, Sasuke twitched, looking irritated. "We accomplished our mission. Snow had been apparently been controlled by Orochimaru. He was behind all of this." He said, handing a scroll to Tsunade, who took it and scanned it.

"Minami's at Gaara's?" Tsunade asked which caused Sasuke to twitch his eye once again. "I take that as a 'yes.' She muttered, and handed over the scroll to dumbfounded looking Naruto.

"Minami-chan? You left her at Hidden SAND!" He yelled, looking angry. "You know how FAR that is?" He didn't have to remind Sasuke that. "Why did you? Did she get hurt? Was there something wrong with her?"

Sasuke looked away, irritated. "She got attacked my Orochimaru, and both Gaara and I were fooled while she fought him. When we got back to get her, she had…a pair of red wings on her, and…" He stopped. He'd rather not think of that right now. Did Orochimaru place a jyuuin on her as well? He hoped he hadn't. "Gaara had her return to normal form, and she looked tired, so he said he would make her rest at Sand, until he saw her fit to return."

Naruto quickly scanned the report, with a huge frown on his face. "Red wings?" He asked, looking at Sasuke again. "Fire…wings?"

Sasuke nodded, surprised that he knew. So maybe it wasn't Orochimaru's fault. "Yes, red fire wings and tail as well."

Tsunade looked at Naruto, to see him gaping at him. "Naruto, I would like you to go send Gaara a word. You know what to ask." Naruto quickly nodded, and exited the room without another word. She then turned to the Uchiha who looked at her weirdly. "You must be tired, thanks for the repot, I will file this in. Come back tomorrow, there is a mission I would like you to do."

Hearing the dismissal, Sasuke exited the room, with a frown on him. Why did Naruto and Tsunade look so worried? What was the red wings and tail? Her eyes…He shivered, and decided to leave it at that. He would ask when she came back, if she wanted to talk, that is.

As he walked home, he passed by her apartment, and he stopped to gaze at it. Where was she? When will she come back? Those words haunted him as he walked past it, following him all the way home.

Few days passed, and she still wasn't back. Everyday, Sasuke went through a routine. On his way to the office, he would pause at Minami's apartment, looking for any sounds to show she was back and walking past with a sigh to see she wasn't. After that, he would pause at the gate, and checked with the guards to see if she had come back. Again, he would sigh and walk off to the office to hear they didn't see her. Soon as he reached the office, he would look around to see if Minami had went to the Hokage's office, and to see that she wasn't back. When he entered, he would find out that he has or hasn't any missions. When he leaves, he would either go to the missions or wander around, looking at the gate often. When he got back from whatever, he finds himself standing in front of her apartment again, to know she wasn't back, again. Then he would simply go home.

This repeated itself for a whole week, to Sasuke's dislike. He was losing hope everyday. What if she would stay in Sand for weeks? Months? Years? Or even forever?

He sighed. Next morning, he walked out of his house, and stopped at Minami's apartment once again to see. He then would go over to the gate, to see she wasn't back again. But, something gave him hope when he reached the gates.

"Sasuke-san, we just admitted Minami-san back in. We insisted on her to wait for you, but she went ahead to Hokage's office." He said to Sasuke, looking quite delighted to be telling something positive now.

Sasuke stood there for a moment, but after murmuring a 'thanks' he ran off to the Hokage's office, fast as his legs would carry him. SHE WAS BACK! That was all that was in his head as he ran. "Minami!" He practically yelled her name when he ran into the office, panting.

"Yes?" Was the casual reply from a female voice, tired, but happy toned at the same time. There, in front of Hokage's desk, with Naruto practically hanging over her stood Minami. She gave him a tired smile. "Hello Sasuke-san." She said, waving her hand at him. "Why the rush?"

Sasuke blushed, suddenly realizing that he had just barged into the office without a proper entrance. "I'm sorry." He muttered, looking at Tsunade. "I just ran in like this."

Tsunade shook her head. "It's perfectly all right." She waved it off as she inspected a piece of paper. "So you are all right now?" She asked to Minami, looking at her with concern in her eyes. "Are you sure?"

Minami nodded. "Yes, I am fine. Gaara got it controlled for me."

At that point Sasuke was frowning. What was wrong? And Gaara helped her to get what controlled? Couldn't he have helped? But he didn't utter a word, but to let everyone talk, just listening to the others.

Naruto finally let go of her, to Taka's relief, who swooped back on her shoulder with a glare at the blond. "How was Gaara?" He asked, bouncing up and down. "I asked Sasuke, but he won't even talk about him!" He pouted, giving Sasuke a glare, in which Sasuke didn't even look back at.

Minami shrugged. "Oh, the usual." She said, grinning. "You know the usual 'I don't like to talk so leave me alone' thing." She giggled. "He told me to say hi to you though. And to give you this." She tuned around to a small pack she had, and brought out a small package. "Gaara never told me what it is. He said there is a note in it to tell you what it is." She handed the package to him.

Eagerly, Naruto took it, and started to examine it, while Tsunade took over. "Minami, I want you to take a week off, and get yourself situated, for I know I pushed you out so fast for this mission. You didn't finish settling in, right?"

Minami nodded. "Yes, I still need to unpack couple of things, but I never really carried anything big, so I should be done packing in couple more days. I will be ready for missions any time."

"All right, but for now, take a rest." She replied, and handed Naruto a stack of paper. "You, work." She ordered, pointing to the desk which belonged to him.

"Aww…" Naruto grumbled as he placed the package in his back pocket, and grabbing the files, he sat on the desk and started to work on it. "Minami-chan, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." Was her reply, and hearing her dismissal, she turned to the door, where Sasuke was dumbly standing. "Er…Sasuke-san?" She asked, looking at him quizzically.

Sasuke snapped back into reality, and hurriedly stepped aside. "Sorry." He said, blushing. He totally wasn't listening. He was so confused. When she wasn't in Konoha, he felt so lonely, and when he found out that she was back, he felt truly relieved, and very happy. And when he had to leave her with Gaara…he felt anger in a way, and maybe jealousy. But since when did Uchiha Sasuke feel those emotions?

"Bye Naruto, bye Hokage-sama." She said, and bowing to them, she exited, with Sasuke exiting after her. "Did you get back safely without any trouble?" She asked, turning to him to break the silence as they walked home.

Sasuke nodded. "Nothing happened really. I got back with no problems…" He paused. He pondered on what to say next. He had so many questions to ask, yet...he didn't know how to ask, and what to ask anymore. "How about you?" He asked, trying with all his best to figure out what he was going to ask. Like, what happened during the fight with Orochimaru? What were those wings? What does she mean by 'it'?

Minami shrugged. "Oh, the same. Nothing unusual." She said, now, ending with a silence. They both fidgeted at the sudden silence, until Minami couldn't take it anymore. "Sasuke-san, I'm pretty sure you want to ask me about that…erm, wings and stuff, but…can I tell you when I am ready?" She asked.

Sasuke turned to her with a wide eye, bewildered. Did she just see through him or something? Because, the Uchiha was just was about to ask that question. He nodded to her though. "When you are ready." He confirmed. "Are you all right though?" He asked, with worry in his voice. He truly was worried. "Any wounds?" He quickly scanned her.

"Thanks." She said to him, grinning. "Anyway, don't worry, all right? I feel fine right now, and all my wounds are taken care of. They all healed. Yes, I know, I heal pretty fast." She said, before he could say anything. "Let's just leave it at my blood line helps a lot."

"Blood lines…" was his answer. "What is your blood line do?"

"It lets us use fire ninjutsu without actually forming seals, and we can control it whenever we want, just by summoning it in our heads." She held her palm up and sure enough, fire now rested on her hand, but when she closed her hand, the fire disappeared. "Like that." She turned to Sasuke, and looked into his eyes. "I know yours, the Sharingan…" She said, bringing her hand towards his eyes. To that, Sasuke blushed at the sudden movement and closeness of her hand, and to his reaction, Minami pulled away quickly. "Does the Sharingan actually read people's thoughts?" She asked, breaking the silence that was placed upon them soon as she withdrew.

Sasuke looked at her quite surprised on her question. "Who told you that?" He asked, with amused tone in it now. "No, it doesn't though. It lets us kind of read their attack however, and see chakra."

"Oh, that's still useful though. It will be nice to be able to read someone's thoughts. I wouldn't mind having that power." She said, with a smile on her face. "Just think though, during a mission, you can just look in to what they are thinking of doing for the next attack, and you can counter it."

"Yeah, that would be nice." Sasuke replied, and groaned in his insides to see they were near her apartment. "Well, I'll se you later?" He asked, as the two approached it.

Minami nodded with a smile. "Yes, of course. After all, we do live in the same village, and near each other. Plus, we are both anbu. I'm sure we will be assigned together again. I look forward to it; it was nice being your partner." And with a grin and a wave, she walked to her home, leaving blushing Sasuke to walk home.

**Night**

He couldn't help it. After what she said, he could not sleep. He lay awake on his bed, staring at the ceiling blankly. She made him feel comfortable, yet nervous at the same time. Is that even possible? But something was nagging at him at back of his head, telling him, that maybe he actually liked her? Actually, think of her more than a friend?

He slowly got up from his bed, and stretched, yawning. "I guess I'll take a walk…" He muttered to himself as he walked over to his drawers, and pulling on a sweatshirt and pants, he walked out of his house.

During his walk, he thought over on his thoughts. Did he actually think of her like that? Well, she did make him feel very happy, and he did feel jealousy against Gaara. And he did feel something when he first saw her. And when she returned, he was extremely happy. He was so happy that he just wanted to act like Naruto and go and hug her. But his sensible and 'cool' self stopped him. But that didn't stop his thoughts.

As he walked, he started to pick off a sound, coming from the central park, where the Konoha memorial is. Curious, he started to walk towards it, and as he got closer, he noticed that the sound was a song. A song sung by a female singer. The voice soothed him, and he walked even more closer. Closer he walked, more he got curious. Could it be?

"Sasuke-san, don't creep upon me like that!" Jumping, Minami accused turning around to see Sasuke, who had stepped onto a twig on accident. "You just gave me a fright. I might have even attacked you." Sure enough, she had a kunai out, but she placed it back.

"Sorry." Sasuke said, walking up to her, and noticed that she was standing in front of the memorial. "Why are you here out this late?"

"I could ask the same to you." She teased. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither. Then I remembered about this place." Was her even voice, looking at the memorial. "Most of my family's names are carved on here, and well, I decided to pay them a visit." She grinned.

"Well, I was taking a walk, and I heard someone singing…" He looked at her. "Was it you?"

Minami chuckled. "No," She said sarcastically. "It was Naruto."

At that, they both laughed. "If it was him singing, I never would have come." Sasuke answered to her, after he was done laughing.

"Oh? I take that was praise?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you come because you heard my beautiful song?" She giggled.

"Actually, yes." He answered, turning red, but the darkness hid him a little.

"I…learned this song from my mother." She replied with a tint of sorrow in it. "She used to sing it to me and my brothers all the time. I guess I picked it up and still remember it. I never really sang it; this is actually my first time singing this." She kicked a rock a little, her hands behind her. "It just brings back memories though…and meeting Orochimaru doesn't help…He was, one of the causes of my family's death."

Sasuke looked at her shocked. She had just shared some of her past with him! Maybe she really trusts him? Trust… "I'm sorry." Sasuke said, now looking at the ground.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry I said I would protect you…but I couldn't. I didn't even notice the fake you." He said, feeling ashamed. He was an anbu captain! How could he have missed that? "And when we did get back, I didn't move to save you, I just stood there like an idiot."

"Haha, it's all right. I'm pretty sure I would be quite surprised to see someone like what I looked like that day, fire pair of wings and tail?" She chuckled. "And for Orochimaru's little jutsu, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have noticed too, since Gaara didn't either."

"But…"

"It's all right, Sasuke-san. You can re-earn yourself next time we go on a mission." She smiled. "You can save me there, and you won't owe me anymore."

He blushed at her smile, but replied calmly, "I will do that." Silence placed them again, this time both of them didn't know what to say. It was this time, Sasuke who broke it. "Since…you have this whole week off, I wanted to know…erm, will you go out with me tomorrow?"

Minami turned to Sasuke, tomato red. Quickly regaining herself, she smiled at him mischievously. "Maybe." She said, chuckling. Sasuke's heart froze for a moment, but it defiantly froze forever when Minami giggled, and leaning closer, she said, "Just kidding." And pecked him on the cheek.

Akanishi-san: Crappy chapter. Sorry abt that.

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Anime-yasha: Thanks Ill read your fics soon! I promise!

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Keiya Mizuki: Hehe, yeah I kinda feel bad for Sasuke as well. Ah well, I made it up for him here.

JapanAnimeGirl: NejixOc was so long. Lol. Well it felt long to me anyway. And I know how schoolwork is. Its a nitemare.

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**HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!**


	6. Date

Akanishi-san: Woot! Here is your chapter6!

Ch6

Both Minami and Sasuke fidgeted as they sat on a bench, burning red. They were in middle of the date they had arranged, but, with the new couple walking around, people decided to look at them intently and discuss it.

"Sasuke-kun has a girlfriend?" One of them whispered.

"Yeah, I heard he accepted her confession!"

"Who does she think she is?"

"Are you sure they are going out?"

"No way!"

((Taka had generously volunteered to stay home X3))

"Sasuke-san?" Minami asked after a while, still tomato red, turning to Sasuke, who had the same shade on him. "Erm…is it really weird that you have a girlfriend?" She blushed on her own words, stuttering on it as well.

"Erm..in a way…" He muttered back, equally embarrassed at their attention. "You see…I never had a girlfriend before…"

"And…you were this popular since then, so…that's why they are amazed?" Minami asked, to which Sasuke nodded, trying to hide his embarrassment. Acknowledging this meant that he had really fallen to Minami, and Minami understood and she had to try to hide her embarrassment as well.

They sat there for a while, people passing by, looking at them and talking about them. They were so embarrassed, and to top it off, they were on their first ever date, Sasuke since he never cared for girls, Minami since she never hung out with any other guys during her training, and she had no time. They were so shy, and they were really not comfortable. They did not know what to do. Sometimes one of them tried to spark up a conversation, but it ended after a while, again, going into silence with people talking about them getting even louder in their ears.

'_What do I do?'_ Minami thought to herself. '_I never had this kind of situation! Why is it so hard to talk to Sasuke-san now?' _

Meanwhile, Sasuke's thoughts: _'God…why did I ever think that this could be easy? What do I do? What do I say? What to regular people do?'_

These moments passed with both not saying anything, which gave them even more uncomfortable silence. The silence was soon stopped, however, by an anbu one knee kneeling in front of them.

"Sasuke-san, please excuse me." He muttered, bowing to him. "You are called into an emergency mission assigned by Tsunade-sama."

Sasuke gaped at him for a moment. Quickly snapping back, he turned to Minami, who was also looking surprised. "Erm…Minami…"

She turned to him, a hint of disappointment on her face. "It's all right; it's a mission after all. Missions come first." She smiled. "Maybe another time." She stood up. "Am I called in as well, or is it just Sasuke-san?"

The anbu turned to her. "Only Sasuke-san, however, you are needed at the front gate. Tsunade-sama has a guest coming today, and she wants you to meet him in and to accompany him."

Minami nodded. "All right." She turned back to Sasuke. "Well, we can do this another time?" She asked, hope in her voice. But truthfully, she really wanted to get out of there. She was uncomfortable with the silence; she has to think of things to say to him next time he asks her for a date.

Sasuke nodded. "I will see you later, Minami." He muttered, and in a puff of smoke, he was gone. Stupid missions. He grumbled.

"Who's the visitor?" Minami asked, turning to the anbu who was still there. "Is he important?"

He nodded, getting up. "I'm truly sorry to interrupt your date, Minami-san." He said, looking at the ground.

She blushed. "Ah, no, it's all right." She said, grinning. "There are other times to do these things. Is he here all ready?" She asked, trying to change the conversation topic.

He shook his head in reply. "No, he is on his way. He is believed to come here in 15 minutes." He informed her. Seeing her nod, he nodded back, and disappeared just like Sasuke.

**Gate**

"GAARA!" Minami yelled, flinging her arms around him again, hugging him. "It's you who's the guest?" She asked, jumping happily.

"Yeah…" He muttered. "Now…please get off."

Quickly she got off of him, with a huge grin. "I can't believe it's you! No wonder why Tsunade-sama asked me!" She paused, narrowing her eyes at him. "Are you here because my 18th birthday is nearing?"

Gaara nodded. "Tsunade-sama has asked me to aid you and Naruto."

"You left your village for me? I feel very special!" She said, giggling. "I'll lead you to Tsunade-sama's office, come on!" She turned, and dragged him off.

**Office**

"Tsunade-sama." Minami said, knocking onto her door. "The Kazekage has arrived."

"GAARA!" The familiar voice yelled on the other side of the door. Taking that as a cue, Minami took a step sideways, and sure enough, the door flung open, and Naruto was now hanging on him, jumping with joy. It was the same Minami did, except it was Naruto who did it now. "HOW HAVE YOU BEEN!"

"Naruto…" Gaara muttered, trying to stay balanced with the new weight on him. "Get…off…"

Naruto quickly let go just as Minami did, but he was still hopping up and down. A hand went onto his head, and immediately his hopping stopped with Tsunade's hand holding him down. "Give the Kazekage some room, idiot." She told him, nodding a greeting to Gaara, who did the same.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled, looking slightly angered. "I'm not an idiot!"

"Yes you are." Gaara muttered back, which earned a glare from Naruto. "Hokage-sama, you needed to see me?" He bowed.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, come in." She pushed Naruto out of the way, and moved over for him to go through. "Minami, please stand outside for a moment, and when I finish talking to him, keep him company till he leaves, which is tomorrow."

Minami nodded in reply. "Understood." She then, stepped a little to the left, giving her a position next to the door.

Giving a smile to Minami, Naruto entered back into the room, shutting the door behind him. In the new silence, Minami thought back on Sasuke. Where was he now? What mission was assigned to him? Is it a life threatening mission? Is he all right? What did he really think of her? She sighed, and leaned onto the wall.

**Sasuke**

"Sasuke-san, that was the last of them." One of the anbu Sasuke was assigned with said to him. Sasuke stood there, panting, looking at his other fellow comrades to make sure they were not dead.

"How many wounded?" He asked. He knew none of his comrades had died in this mission. This mission as easy one, it was to track and find couple of ninjas who had betrayed Konoha a little earlier.

"Only 2. Not deadly though." He reassured the Uchiha. "One has gotten a wound on his left arm, and the other has a wound on his right leg. The others have few scratches and so, nothing dangerous." He fell silent, waiting for orders.

Sasuke listened to the man, and felt himself sigh in relief when he heard that there was no life threatened. "Good." He said, "I will take you," he nodded an anbu next to him, who looked the healthiest, "to come with me to bring the traitor back to Konoha. You 2," he nodded to the unwounded people. "Stay with those two who are wounded and wait for the medic-nins to reach here."

The 2 nodded, and another went to pick up a motionless body part. "Ready to go sir." He said. Sasuke nodded, and turning to the others, he nodded to them once, and left with the other towards Konoha. He couldn't wait till he got home. Maybe Minami was still free?

But…things did not go as he wanted.

When he reached Konoha, he found out that Gaara was in town, and he was with Minami at this moment. He let out a groan, but went to find her anyway. As he hopped roof to roof in his regular outfit, he found that the town was buzzing with rumors. And he really didn't like them.

Most of the rumors consisted of how Sasuke and the Kazekage were fighting over Minami's love. Some even consisted of how Minami was cheating on the Uchiha, and had run off to the Kazekage soon as he left. This angered the Uchiha, and he sped on faster, to where he felt her presence.

The presence of the Kazekage next to Minami was not really a problem, he knew…but…how happy she and Gaara talked, how happy they seemed…that angered him. When he was with her, they didn't even talk much, and here she was, talking like they were meant for each other. They were laughing, and occasionally one would look offended in joking way when the other teased. His face turned into a frown with the scene in front of him. He felt jealousy towards the Kazekage.

Looking up, Minami felt someone looking over their way intently. She looked around, until she spotted Sasuke standing on the street, frowning at them. "Sasuke-san?' She asked, getting up.

Gaara looked up as well, and felt himself smirk inwardly. He knew exactly why the Uchiha was frowning. "Uchiha." He greeted.

Sasuke shot a glare at Gaara, and looked back to Minami who was walking over to him. "Your mission is finished already?" She asked, grinning. The grin soon faded as soon Sasuke's cold eyes met hers, and it made her freeze. "Sasuke-san…?" She asked, hesitantly.

"It seems you were having fun." He said his voice cold. "Sorry to disturb you." With that, he turned and left Minami looking very surprised, Gaara looking amused.

"What was all that about?" Minami gasped, turning to Gaara who looked now, very amused. "Gaara! Tell me!" She pleaded. Truthfully, she didn't know what was going on. She had no clue, that he was jealous. "Gaara!"

"All right, all right!" He chuckled, holding out a hand in front of him, trying not to laugh. "Uchiha was just…jealous." He saw Minami gape at him, and that made him chuckle even more.

"Gaara!"

"I'm talking, I'm talking!" he said. "Uchiha was jealous that I was with you instead of with him. And, what I heard from you, you and him couldn't talk about anything earlier, right?" He saw her nod. "Well, seeing us talking regularly probably made him angry. I don't think he likes me anymore." He mused.

"No way!" Minami gasped. "Sasuke-san is jealous?"

Gaara nodded. "I'll be fine, go find the Jealous Uchiha." He chuckled, and got up. "Off you go." He chucked some of his sand playfully at her, and pushed her in the direction of the way Sasuke had gone.

She frowned angrily at him jokingly, and started to run over. But she stopped, turning around; she came back and hugged him. "Thanks." She said, and ran off to find Sasuke.

She found him quite easily, and she hopped into the training grounds in the forest where he trained, almost killing a nearby tree. "Sasuke-san?" She asked, walking over to him. Sasuke continued to train, as if he had even not heard her. "Sasuke-san." She said this time with more authority, not a question. "Please talk to me, I am here, and do not pretend I am not here since I am."

Sasuke whirled his head toward her, anger clearly written on his face. "What do you want?' He growled at her.

"Why are you so angry!" She almost yelled back at him. Scratch that, she did yell it back. She didn't have patience, and she showed it. She glared at him, breathing heavily. Sasuke growled in response. "Yeah, a growl can tell me many things, Sasuke-san!"

Sasuke lowered his glare, and looking a little off, he said, "Why were you so happy with him, when you didn't even talk or look at me straight in the eye on our date."

Minami found herself frowning, and blushing as well. "See…erm…I was very…" She was going to say nervous, but that was just like saying "I am not comfortable with you." So she decided to stay silent.

"See!" Sasuke said, frustrated. "Are those rumors true? Are you going out with him?" He brought his glare up to Minami, who gaped back at him. "I saw you, you looked very comfortable around him, and not to me at all!" He was angry yes, at Gaara however not her. He was angry how Gaara knew about her more than he, and how she looked more comfortable when she was with him than him. But he could not stop himself from being angry at her.

Minami opened her mouth, and closed it, no sound coming out. Was this really jealousy like Gaara told her? Yes. Of course it is. He was jealous. "Look Sasuke-san, I don't know what you are getting at but I was assigned to be with him by Tsunade-sama. The only reason I was comfortable with him is because I knew him for a while, and…" She started, but was soon cut off by Sasuke's offending comment.

"I see, you would just go out with any guy, is it? You are one of those stupid women, who go to men when they are in trouble, aren't you not!" He glared at her with his cold black eyes, which turned into worry soon as he saw hers after he said that. Her eyes had turned to sorrow, hurt. Her green eyes showed hurt.

"Is…is that what you really think of me?" She stuttered, feeling a pain in her heart. She really didn't care if anyone else said it, but…hearing it from Sasuke…it hurt her greatly. "Fine." She muttered, and whipping a tear off of herself with her sleeve, she turned and started to walk away.

Sasuke only stood there, feeling very, very stupid. He was now very angry at himself now, for saying such thing to Minami! "Wait!" He yelled, and was instantly holding her wrist, pulling her back.

"WHAT!" Minami yelled back, a tear visible in her eye. She tried to get away from him, trying her best to run off, but his grip was tight on her, and part of her wanted to stay.

Sasuke looked at the ground, and when he looked up, he had sincere look on him. "I'm sorry." He said, his insides feeling miserable. "I…I didn't mean what I said. I thought that you were only doing that for a reason, but…it's just that you looked so comfortable with him." He said bitterly, feeling even more ashamed. He brought his hand up and whipped a tear off her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Well you know what, Sauske-san?" Minami said after a while of thinking. "Tell me why. Then I'll think of forgiving you." She smiled, feeling happier. So maybe Gaara was true? But she wanted to hear it from his mouth.

Sasuke looked away, feeling even more embarrassed. "I was jealous." He muttered after a while.

"Hmm?" Oh she loved this. "I didn't catch that."

Sasuke frowned at her, but it was his fault that he was in this mess. "I was jealous." He said, this time more audible. "I was jealous that you seemed happier with him than me."

Her grin became wider, laughing now. "Good, I forgive you." She said, hugging him which made him turn tomato red. "Anyway, Gaara and I are just friends. Don't worry about it. I see nothing else in him, and he sees nothing in me as well."

Sasuke nodded, feeling very stupid. Of course! Minami was not that type of person, and he should have known that. That was one of the facts he liked about her. "Sorry…" He muttered again.

"God, if you say sorry again Sasuke-san, I will smack you!" She warned, letting him go. "Now, let's get back. I am still supposed to be with Gaara, why don't you come with us? Then you can see that you have no rival." She giggled and started to walk off to where she left Gaara.

"Are you going to rub it in my face now?" He sighed, but followed her back.

"Yup. Just think: The great Uchiha, jealous!"

"Minami…" his voice sounded desperate, defeated.

"Oh, and desperate and defeated tone, I can't wait to tell everyone! Oh my god! NARUTO! There is something very funny I want to share with you!"

"Minami…"

Akanishi-san: Yup, yup. I wanted to add another peaceful part, just before ya know, that part. Anyway, here is another funny/weird chapter. Haha, yeah. This chapter was kinda pointless. Anyway, review please

**BTW REVIEWERS**

RainingHeart: Yes, that was a happy chapter, and this one too...well, kinda. I hope you liked it!

nanogirl: Thanks for the reviews but, about that boyfriend thing...lol. I'm a girl. Lol. Yeah.

keiya mizuki: Thanks! Hehe, yeah, I can put really random things in my stories. Lol. I think when I finish this, I might do a random joke fic, ya know? No pairing. Or maybe a pairing, a joking/love thing, no tragic, like Minami's past here.

Sariyu-chan: Happy belated new years to you! Thanks so much for your reviews. I'm late at updating again, sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well

YamiKitsuneYami: Sorry, I spelled your name wrong in the last chapter. I called you "TamiKitsune" sorry> and, thanks for reading my other fics too! THANK YOU! And thanks for your review on the YondaimexOc one. I appreciate it, I'm glad you liked it. Hehe, because well, I think that is my fav. story out of all my stories. Yeah, Im a yondaime fan. Hehe, thanks again!


	7. Suzaku

Akanishi-san: Woot! Yeah, again, kinda late. School is like...stupid. Lol. Homework...EVIL!

Ch7

Days passed by, with nothing unusual happening, going onto some missions, but nothing else. Sasuke and Minami went on couple more dates, and they went fairly well. Nothing else, only something unusual was the fact that Gaara was still in Konoha.

Yes Gaara stayed till now. He and Naruto thought it was for the best, Minami's birthday was nearing, and it was almost the time. Naruto, Gaara and Tsunade made a decision of having him to stay, to watch Minami, and to stay till the time, so he could help out. This was supposed to be a secret from Minami, but she had the idea. She seemed frustrated at first, telling Gaara to go back, for he is after all the Kazekage, but he would not. Sasuke had found this odd as well, but he didn't know anything about the demon. What he knew that she did not like Gaara in a way she liked him, so he really didn't care.

One morning however, Sasuke found the situation even more suspicious. He had woken up like usual, got dressed like usual, and as usual went to the Anbu head quarters to see if he had missions. He had found out that he had none, but that was not the unusual thing that he ran into. It happened when he walked to Minami's apartment, thinking of asking her out maybe to lunch or dinner possibly.

He knocked on the door, but no one answered him. He frowned. It was pretty early, he wondered if she had a mission. But he could have sworn her name was not in the list of assigned missions. Well, he would go and check Gaara's room. Maybe she was there?

He walked to the hotel, not really thinking deep into the situation. When he got there however, the cloud appeared. The people in the front desk informed him that Gaara had left early, around 6 AM. He left the hotel with a frown. Maybe he'll go ask Naruto?

He then entered into the Hokage's building, and knocked on the door. He got an answer and he entered, but…Naruto wasn't there. If Naruto had ditched again, Tsunade would have looked angry, but she just looked worried.

"Yes?" She asked, turning to him.

Sasuke looked around, and looking back at her, his frown had deepened. "Where's Naruto?" He asked her. He was getting very suspicious now. Now that he thought of this, everywhere Minami was either Gaara or Naruto was with her. Did something happen?

Tsunade opened her mouth and closed it. When she opened it, it didn't make Sasuke feel better at all. It only made his thoughts cloudier. "Naruto was assigned to a mission with Gaara."

"I see…" He replied. "Is Minami with them?" He eyed her carefully.

Tsunade nodded. "Er. No." She said hastily, bringing her nod to a shake. "She's assigned to another mission."

The tone of her voice. Sasuke could just feel the lie. "Uh-huh…" He muttered.

Silence followed, until Tsunade broke it with a sigh. "I guess I'm not good of a liar, am I?" She said, looking defeated. "Yes. Minami is with Naruto and Gaara. They went for a very important mission."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at her. "And why hide it?" He crossed his arms.

"Because, I had a feeling you were going to go after them."

Sasuke frowned at that comment. Yes, he was curious, but it's a mission, right? But…a mission with the Kazekage and future Hokage? He opened his mouth to reply, but Shizune came in, panting heavily.

"Tsunade-sama!" She yelled, leaning onto the door for support. "Anbu squad A has returned, and they are heavily wounded. They said they had encountered him!"

"Who?" Sasuke asked, but it was gracefully ignored, with Tsunade running out with Shizune. "O…k?" He muttered, walking out of the room, suspicious. Very suspicious.

His thoughts swirled around his head. Minami is gone. Gaara is gone. Naruto is gone. They are all in the same mission, the future Hokage, Kazekage, and Minami. Anbu squad A had returned, meeting him? Who's him? And Tsunade really seemed to not like the idea of having his knowing what this mission was.

He shrugged. She did say she didn't want him to go see, but she didn't tell him...well, she didn't say exactly. Besides, he had the day off. Let's just he went for a walk? Out side.

He ran as fast as he could back to his house, and he quickly got dressed to his anbu outfit, grabbing his backpack he usually took for trips for unknown days. He exited his house, and ran quite fast to the gates. Quickly nodding a greeting to his fellow anbus, he left Konoha.

During these years, Sasuke had "perfected" his sharingan. He had trained it well to the extent of seeing chakra trails, and manipulating chakra attacking at him. And as soon as he had it activated, sure enough, he saw the trails of chakra made by Minami, Gaara and Naruto. They looked old. He muttered a curse, and followed the trail.

He followed it for a quite a long time, and he was getting tired. It felt like days to him, following the trail. He ran on however, without a rest. He was too curious to sit still. He did sometimes sit and take a sip of water or something, but no more than 1 minute he wasted.

He had to smile triumphantly to himself as he saw that the track was getting fresher every step he took. Well, progress was seen. His grin became wider as he saw that he was very near. He started to slow, concentrating more on hiding himself rather than speed.

Sasuke kept on running, until he saw the track starting to get even fresher, to the point of recent. They were near by. He stopped to concentrate fully on hiding himself, and started to walk towards where he saw the trails.

"Is that right?" Someone's voice spoke over to Sasuke's right. It sounded very familiar. "Gaara!" The voice whined. Its owner was a male. Naruto.

"Yes." Was the grumpy reply. Gaara.

"Guys!" This time, a female voice sounding nervous. "Don't fight now, all right?" Minami.

Sasuke crept over to a near by bush, looking at them carefully. He frowned at the scene. Minami was sitting in a circle of what seemed to be a seal, Naruto writing a part of the seal, Gaara as well. Minami was simply sitting in the circle, looking troubled.

"It's almost time." Gaara said, getting up as he finished the last part of the seal. "Are you almost done?" He asked Naruto.

"Mmm…" Naruto replied, writing a bit more, and getting up. "Yeah."

Gaara looked at his work. "Good, that's right." He made couple of hand symbols, and slamming his hand onto the ground, a small half circle shield covered Minami in the circle. He then walked around the circle, and was now facing Minami. "Listen, Minami." He started with a serious face, talking to her through the shield. "Orochimaru tried last time, he will probably try again."

Orochimaru? Sasuke frowned. What's he got to do with it? He tried what? Yeah, he tried to kill Minami before…is he going to try again? Wait…did he actually want to kill Minami earlier? Could he have wanted her for power? What's going on!

As if Naruto heard him, he opened his mouth and nodded as he talked. "Yeah, Orochimaru might come and try to take your powers, but we will cover you during what ever you have to do." He gave her a thumb up.

Minami nodded, smiling gratefully. "Thank you." She said, and stood in the middle of the circle, looking quite determined. "Well, is it almost time?" She asked Gaara, who was looking at a watch.

He nodded. "Almost. 1.5 more minutes."

Sasuke really was getting frustrated. Orochimaru wanted her, for her fire ability maybe? And almost time for what?

"1 more minute." Gaara said to her. She nodded in reply, saying nothing else but to look around anxiously. Moments passed without any talking, but…"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…" Minami closed her eyes. "3…2…"

Silence passed for a moment, maybe half a second. But it was disturbed by a wisp of fire which circled Minami, and when the small ring of fire connected, it erupted. It rocketed high into the air breaking the shield, the fire roared, ripping through the air. To that, the 3 ninjas' mouth dropped.

"MINAMI-CHAN!" Naruto yelled, horror-struck. Gaara was too surprised to say anything, and Sasuke was way too horrified to say anything either. They all thought she had been engulfed by those flames, burning her into nothing. Naruto and Gaara thought that she had failed the "test" and that meant….death.

The fire however changed shape, turning into a gigantic bird shape, with gleaming green eyes, flaming red feathers, and a long red tail with green ornaments. It then shot high into the air, revealing Minami, sitting on the groud, looking very afraid.

The bird disappeared into the clouds, completely from view as it shot high into the air, but with a loud screech from it, it shot back down. It swooped gracefully right before it hit the ground, and was now, hovering above Minami, its eyes glinting at her.

"Suzaku Minami." He said, its beak moved, but oddly, it didn't sound like it came form it. Its voice echoed in the forest, and at that moment, it moved its massive head, and looked at Naruto and Gaara, then a quick glance at Sasuke, they were unmovable. They were glued to the ground! "I do not want anyone to interfere." It said, turning back to Minami now, who looked at the bird with horror on her face.

"Suzaku…" She muttered under her breath. She didn't know what feelings were bigger: awe of its beauty, fear of its power, or horror of what might become of her if she fails.

The bird stared at her, studying her from corner to corner, as if scanning her with x-ray vision. "Hmph." It finally muttered, after to what everyone thought as a century. "No special body structure, flimsy arms, long legs, but not fast. Eyes that show fear easily, nose and ears that you don't use in combat." It seemed to have fun annoying her, and she was getting VERY annoyed, and so was Sasuke. He didn't like this bird, annoying her. Its eyes moved to her chest, "Well at least you seem to have good…" But Minami wisely cut it off, looking frustrated.

"Well excuse me," She said, now her eyes showing anger. "I am going to draw the line here. There are other people here, you know!"

Gaara, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves blushing, avoiding her eyes, looking anywhere but her. The bird turned its majestic head at them, and sighed. "Humans." It muttered, and turned back to Minami, who was staring right back at it. "Are you ready?" It asked her, now sounding bored.

"Yes." She said, determined. She was going to get out of this alive. She was determined to do so. "I am ready."

"Good." The bird said, "The test will determine your skill and heart, to see if you are worthy. I will not tell you what to show me, or what to tell me. That will be pointless. You will fight with me, no hold backs. Also, you will not use ninjutsu or genjutsu. You are only allowed to use your taijutsu against me. This means, no using your blood line as well."

"What!" She yelled out loud, before she could stop herself. But who wouldn't? The bird, the HUGE bird, about oh, I don't know, 100 times lager than her size wanted her to fight with only taijutsu? Plus, that thing had a massive beak, and deadly talons! What does she have? Nails and teeth? Ha! Like those will help. "That's unfair!"

"The world is unfair. Do you wish for me to cry for you?" It said in a mocking tone of voice. "Human, whether you like it or not, you will fight only with taijutsu. Do you accept or not?"

Minami growled, glaring at it. And the people of her clan told her that Suzaku was understanding, kind, beautiful, and most of all, polite to all, even to small creatures. "I wish they saw what their clan bird was really like." She muttered quietly, but nodded to it, still glaring. "Fine. I accept."

The bird, Minami could have sworn smiled at her, but she could not confirm it since the bird slashed at her with those talons of it, lashing at her dangerously.

"HEY!" She yelled, jumping back into a tree. "I didn't say I was ready!"

"Well you are now!" It said, and lashed at her once more.

As Minami dodged, the other 3 ninjas hopelessly watched. Gaara could not use his sand, he was completely bound, the sand with him. He felt so weak! So useless! He didn't have the power to protect her! Naruto felt the same, he tried unleashing some Kyuubi powers, but the bindings held him on the ground. He was devastated. He was useless, when his friend was in danger.

Sasuke…He never felt so…out of place. Gaara and Naruto seemed surprised, yet not as much as he. They seemed to have known that it was coming, and he didn't, and what's with the test? What is it? Why did she accept when she knows that she might die? What was going on? How come she never told him anything about this?

He snapped out of his thoughts as a screech was heard, the golden hawk diving at Suzaku, trying its best at helping his master. "Stupid bird!" Suzaku growled angrily as it tried to swat it away. "Get away from me!"

"You forgot, you are a bird as well!" Minami yelled, using this as a chance, she dived under its stomach, and jumped onto its talons, to its massive wings, then to the same height as its neck. "Take this!" She yelled, and kicked as hard as she could at it, only to see that it had no affect what so ever on it.

"Is that all you got? You will not defeat me with those puny taijutsu!" It laughed devilishly, and using its wings, it tried to swat her away.

Minami closed her eyes getting ready for pain, and it came. She bit back a cry of pain as the wing ran into her hard. She was pretty high in the air, and she felt her body aching, falling to the ground head first. She knew if she did not try to at least land properly, she would hit head first into something, but…she was just so hurt! Minami closed her eyes once more, getting ready for another shock of pain as she lands, but this time, no pain came, even though she felt herself land. Instead, she heard a grunt of pain, and strong arms around her.

Opening her eyes, she saw red eyes, with dots in them, staring right back at her worriedly. "Are you hurt?" He grunted, trying to sit up, but failed, due to the pain on his back when he ran into a tree protecting her fall.

"Sasuke!" She gasped, and jumped off of him, wincing, taking a note that it was very stupid of her to jump off. Her back hurt a lot, even thought Sasuke had cushioned her fall, and felt even more worried by it. If she felt that much of pain, Sasuke probably had worse. But why was he here anyway?

The bird's wing beats came closer, and it stopped as it gracefully landed onto the ground, its eyes peering curiously at them. "You, how did you get out of my bounds?" It asked. "Chakra manipulation?"

Sasuke nodded as he was helped to sit up by Minami, who was half looking over his wound, half looking at Suzaku for any movement of attack. "I used my Sharingan to manipulate your chakra a bit."

"Ah, I see." It muttered, looking at him still, curious._ 'So this was the survivor of Uchiha clan. Interesting.'. _It thought.

"Taka!" Minami whistled, and the golden hawk was right next to her, glaring at Suzaku warningly. "Watch Sasuke for me." She said, and got up, ready to fight once again.

"Minami!" Sasuke said his voice hoarse. "I'll help." He offered. "Let me help."

Minami looked surprised at his offer, but with a smile and shake of her head, she declined. "I'm sorry Sasuke-san, I thank you for your offer, but…" She turned to the bird, determined look on her face. "This is my fight."

"But the human interfered. It shall take that prince!" The bird growled, glaring daggers at Sasuke, and suddenly, arrows of fire was around it. With a wing beat, the arrows were released, all targeting at the Uchiha.

Both Gaara and Naruto tried their best at manipulating chakra as well, but unlike Sasuke, they did not have the sharingan. They were useless at that moment, when two of their friends were in danger.

"SASUKE!" Minami cried, as she jumped in front of him, and sending one glare at Suzaku, she sent her own fire to her palms, and made a shield of fire. She winced as she felt the power of the attack pushing her back, but gritting her teeth, she held her ground, determined to protect Sasuke.

The bird called off its attack when the shield broke to pieces, the fire turning to air. In response, the fire arrows had ran into her, but not as hard as she thought it would have. "You have used your blood line." It said to her as if it was a simple matter.

Minami gasped in air, trying to breathe. Whether the bird held back on it and called it off, it still _hurt_. One had run right to her stomach, taking the air out of her. Another had cut her right shoulder, which was now bleeding. One had gotten her left leg, and it too was bleeding. With only 1 leg to support her fully, she fell onto her knees, one hand now trying to cover her shoulder wound, another to the leg.

Sasuke watched her fall, even more horrified. Look at what he did now! He had gotten her hurt! He could not say anything, there was something preventing him, and no muscles of his body would let him move.

"I know I did." She replied, her voice quivering. She had done it now. She was going to die. "I have failed."

With in a moment, Gaara and Naruto were next to her, standing protectively in front of her. "She only did it so she could save him!" Naruto growled at it. The bindings were removed, and they were free to move, and feelings were let out as well. "Besides, what you asked was stupid! Only taijutsu against you?"

Gaara said nothing, but his sand dangerously waved around him, his eyes piercing Suzaku. He was angry. He was not going to have his friend die. Especially not in front of him, not if he could help it.

The bird tossed its head, its feathers softly waving in the air. "She has indeed used her power. Her blood line power. I have clearly stated that she was not supposed to use it." It looked at Gaara and Naruto thoughtfully. "Seems as you two know the truth of this, what would happen to her if she fails."

Gaara and Naruto growled, glaring at it. "She's not going to die!" Naruto yelled furiously.

Sasuke's heart stopped. Die? Minami was going to die? Because she had protected him…This can not be happening. No…Way…

"It's all right, you guys. Like it said, I have failed the test." Minami said her voice in a whisper. She was going to die. Those words swirled in her head. Death.

"However…" It started, bringing Naruto, Gaara and Minami to look surprised and to silence. "The test was: To determine your skill and heart." It looked at Minami with thoughtful eyes. "You have first shown me your heart was strong, by accepting the fight, even thought you perfectly knew you will die with a single mistake. You have then shown me your skills, single fighting, and the perfect synchronize with the bird." It nodded acknowledgement to Taka. "You have then shown me again your heart, by protecting that Uchiha, and the skill of your blood line by using one of the complicated fire shields. Lastly you have shown me your strong heart by taking in the fact of death."

Gaara and Naruto's mouth was hanging open. Minami's was as well, Sasuke was practically gaping at the bird, jaws open. Could this mean…no…was it?

"You are…" The bird stopped, and with one more look at the humans in front of it, it chuckled. "One Shukaku, one Kyuubi, one survivor. You have some interesting friends." It mused.

"Get on with it!" Naruto yelled, frustrated. He wanted to know what the bird was getting to. It couldn't be…?

The bird looked at Naruto. "My, my, hasty aren't we?" But it chuckled, looking at them warmly now. "You pass." It said, looking at Minami now, her eyes bulging as well, matching Sasuke. All of their mouths were now hanging open, looking very surprised. "Those who do not follow their heart are fools. Those who are not skilled are not meant to use my power, they are bound to use it and kill themselves. Those who do not cherish and protect their friends are fools, especially those who let their loved ones get hurt or die in front of them. If you let the Uchiha die, I would have simply sent the fire arrows at you, painfully." It added.

Minami blushed, and so did Sasuke. Loved ones. "Err…" Minami muttered, she didn't know what to say. "Thanks?" She smiled crookedly at it.

"It seems I will be stuck with you for a long time." It sighed. "You have passed congratulations." The bird changed into a massive burning fire ball. "Call me when you need me." The voice was a whisper in the air, and the fire sped to Minami, and hitting her squarely onto her neck joint, where her seal was.

"Minami!" Sasuke gasped, thinking that it was an attack.

Minami pulled down her neck part of her shirt, and looked at her seal. It was burning red, and the burn mark changed shape, to a small shape of a bird, with long tail, its wing part stretching around her neck, looking now like a necklace engraved onto her.

She then felt a strong, yet gentle wind circle her and Sasuke, and when she checked her wounds, they were healed. So her people were right. The bird was kind, gentle, and considerate. It had watched her every move, carefully, and it did not hurt her that much. The only reason it gave the person these test was to make sure the bearer would not end up killing him or herself.

It was doing all of these things for them. For her.

Akanishi-san: ARRGGG This was SOOOOO long! I'm going to go to bed now…arg…tired…bye…

**BTW READERS:**

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT, NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE LAST!

Kyoskittn885: Hehe, thanks for the compliment! Ill try to keep it up!

Sariyu-chan: Thank you so much! Im so glad to hear that! I hope this chapter also gave you happiness Lol. I donno what to say...THANK YOU!

YamiKitsuneKami: Arg...i almost wrote YamiKitsuneKame. Lol. Anyway, thanks for the reviewI appreciate it! And when you do write a yondaime fic, please tell me! I would love to read it!

keiya mizuki: Thanks! I was hoping he wasnt, because well...okay, well he is, but I try not to have him so. Thanks for tthe review

Slifer X: Hey a new face! Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed this!


	8. Finale

Akanishi-san: Woot! Last chappie! Hehe. Well, it just depends if I want to make a continuation chapter to this, should I?

Ch8

Both Naruto and Gaara sighed in relief as they slumped to the ground, exhausted. "God…" Naruto muttered, completely laying on the ground now, his front facing the sky. "That was one tiring event…"

Gaara had to nod. It was very tiring, and now, he could not wait to get to bed. Not of course sleep because of his demon, but at least, rest. He leaned against a tree for support to sit up.

Minami smiled at them weakly. She of course was very tired, especially because she fought the demon and the demon was now trying to fit into her. "Thanks you guys." She said to them.

"Minami." Minami turned around, now face to face to none other than Sasuke. His eyes showed anger. Her face fell with the tone of his voice. She knew why he was angry, and she would be too, if she were in his shoes. Oh yes, he was angry, but not from just not anger, but betrayal of her not trusting him with whatever just happened.

His eyes softened however when she looked at him with worry in her eyes. "Look…you better tell me whatever just happened." He sighed, looking over his arms and legs to make sure they were completely healed. Although he wanted to yell at her for not trusting him with this, he did not want to yell at someone he loved. Yes, loved…and those green eyes…her eyes had now darker shade of green, probably from the bird he suspected, but it was now very beautiful. Not that they weren't before, of course.

"Sasuke-san…" She murmured, letting go the breath she was holding. She felt so relieved that he was not as angry as she thought he would be. "I…I'm sorry."

Sasuke shrugged, "I thought you called me 'Sasuke' earlier. I like that better, without the suffix please." He said casually as he now looked at her for any injuries. His eyes then rested on her neck, where the burn mark was. He frowned at it. He recalled that before the bird appeared, her neck joint was glowing. Was that whatever that happened's origin? "So…?" He asked in a questioning tone, now looking into her eyes.

Minami looked away from his eyes, but told him her story. During this time, Taka had swiftly pecked, scratched and chased away Gaara and Naruto away a little further for privacy.

When the story was over, Sasuke was carefully sinking in the new information. "Why didn't you tell me?" Sasuke's voice was almost a whisper.

She flinched when he said those words. Not only the words showed anger, it showed betrayal. "Because…" She paused, looking at him again, then to the ground. "I thought you would hate me…"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, surprised. Maybe hesitant, but NEVER hate. "Why would I hate you?" He asked her, now relieved that it was nothing personal that had kept him away from the truth.

Minami looked up, her face showing surprise as well. "You…don't think it's scary that I have a demon in myself?" He shook his head. "Sasuke, you don't get it, I could be dangerous!"

Again, he shrugged. "You don't seem to be." Was his reply. He then froze. "Wait…does that mean…today is your birthday?" He looked at her, wide-eyed.

Minami nodded. "Erm…yes…" Why was he acting this way? Wasn't he afraid?

Sasuke slapped himself in the face as he groaned. "Sorry…"

She could not believe her ears. No…way! He forgives her for all of this, he's not afraid, and he's saying sorry because he forgot her birthday soon as he found out she had a demon? Yeah. She officially named him Crazy in her head. "Sasuke…are you serious?"

He nodded, still feeling a bit guilty. He vowed to make it up to her. "Yeah, why would I hate you? I happen to know Naruto is a demon and Gaara as well. What would be the difference with you?" He paused for a second. "But I am angry." Her face fell at those words, now feeling very guilty. She looked up just in time to see Sasuke lean over and rest a hand next to her on the ground, and one around her waist, pulling her into a hug. "I'm angry because you didn't tell me so I can protect you."

((AN Ya, they happen to be sitting that close because I said so))

Minami gasped when she was pulled into the hug, but she soon relaxed at his words. "You know how angry I was when I found out Gaara and Naruto seemed to know more about you than I did?" He asked, now looking at her. "Although I know I should not know anything personal, but…I wanted to know…even after all those days, you still didn't tell me what they knew and it made me angry…" She looked away from his eyes. "However…" Her eyes snapped back up to see him smiling softly at her. "Now that I know, I'm not that angry."

"_That_ angry?" She asked him, blushing now. Their face was so close, and his arm was still around her. "So you are still angry with me?"

He nodded. "But…I'll let you off with this." He then swiftly kissed her on the lips.

Minami stiffened when it happened, but when they parted, she was back into reality. "SASUKE!" She nearly yelled it out, but remembering that she was still in his arms, she held back the yell so not to kill his ear drums.

Sasuke still winced at her sudden outburst, but kept his arms around her. "Yes?" He asked as if he was innocent and oblivious to everything. "Did something happen?"

Minami's mouth opened, but closed again, opening again, but closing again with no sound coming out. He chuckled at the sight. It was very amusing to see. "It's not funny!" She hissed at him, now regaining her voice.

"Oh yes it is." Sasuke murmured back, but before he was able to say anymore, another voice cut through the forest, bringing the other 2 ninjas and Take flying back.

"Sorry to interrupt."

Both Minami and Sasuke jumped apart from each other at his voice, their kunai out in ready stance. "Orochimaru…" Sasuke growled out his name. Now that he knew he wanted Minami, he was NOT going to let him have her. Not when he was around.

Gaara and Naruto had already arrived on the scene, both in ready stance, Taka pumping air with its wings hovering in front of his master protectively. The next movement was Orochimaru entering the ground where they stood.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have come to collect my belonging." He flicked a gaze at Minami, who looked very tired. _'Good, one can't fight it seems…_' He thought, and sure enough, Minami was on her knees, trying to stand up, but unable to do so.

"Stupid!" Gaara hissed at her, using his sand, he created a clone of himself and made it stand next to Minami. "You just had that thing go into your body. It'll take a while for it to settle. You will not be able to form chakra for a while and your muscles won't function normally, so stop trying." His words stung her since she was useless at that point, but rested her legs onto the ground. "Even if you can move it, it might cost you your life. Sudden chakra usage after taking in all that chakra from Suzaku might cause dysfunction in your body. Remember that."

Cost her life? Sasuke looked at Minami worriedly, and turned back to Orochimaru. He had to protect her. "Minami," He said, catching her attention. "I guess now I owe you one." He smirked at Minami, and without waiting for an answer his demon wings grew out of his back, his skin color changing, and now on his face, was the cross. "I have a secret as well…I too have a demon…Well not a demon, but demon form." He chuckled at himself as if it was nothing that mattered.

((AN: For those who did not read or watch the newest anime or manga released in Japan, Sasuke now has a demon form himself))

Minami stared at him wide-eyed, gaping at him. He had a demon form? But that question was not answered, for Sasuke, Naruto and Gaara jumped into a fight against Orochimaru while she helplessly watched, Gaara clone and Taka watching her to make sure she did not join in the fray.

Orochimaru had defiantly come in at the wrong time. Not only did he miscalculate their strength, he did not know Sasuke was now able to control the power. He thought that Sasuke would not use his form. Orochimaru had thought he had made sure Sasuke would not be able to use the form against him!

He growled his frustration as he jumped back, trying to avoided their attacks. He had thought they would be tired from the event…he didn't expect the bird to heal them all! Everything was not going right to him.

"Kakashi showed me how to control it." Sasuke said casually as if they were simply having a cup of tea as he tried a swipe at him. "Didn't think I could, did you?" He smirked.

Naruto growled as he formed Rasengan in his hands, Sasuke already forming Chidori, Gaara now getting ready for Sabaku Sousou, his hand out stretched. Seeing Orochimaru had no other way to escape, his gaze flickered at Naruto. He vowed to take his life, because he had stopped all of his plans. He had stopped him from getting Sasuke, and now Minami!

Orochimaru quickly made his seals before the 3 ninjas could attack, and a dark lightning was already rushing at Naruto. "NARUTO!" Both Sasuke and Gaara gasped his name out, surprised.

Naruto was unable to move, his hand was trying to adjust from rasengan into a dodge. This was the negative part about his new attack, the bigger and stronger version of Rasengan needed someone's back up. Right now, he didn't have any. Sasuke's hand was now not holding Chidori, but his legs were not trying to get Naruto out of harm's way, Gaara trying hard to switch from his sand attack to defense. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, except for the lightning.

However, when everyone thought the lightning had connected, someone else was in front of Naruto, fire blazing around her, her angry green eyes glaring at Orochimaru. Both Sasuke and Gaara gaped at her, Naruto bewildered, trying to focus.

"You will not kill any more people, Orochimaru." Her voice echoed through the forest as if the forest was her. She brought her hand in front of her, like Gaara when he does his sand attack. "Honou…" She muttered, fire blazed around Orochimaru, covering him. "Sokushi…" With closing her hand, the fire completely engulfed Orochimaru, burning him into nothing, with no cry of pain from him.

Gaping at the new scene, the 3 other ninjas made no more move. But…they did soon as they saw Minami collapse to the ground.

"MINAMI!"

**Unknown Place**

'_Where am I…?' Minami thought as she slowly opened her eyes, or so she thought. All she saw around herself was darkness, nothing more. Just black, that was all. "How did I end up here? What's going on? Where are the others? Why am I here!" She yelled out her frustration as she tried to walk in the darkness. A small chuckle greeted her. Oh, she knew who it was all right. "Take me out of here! But first...where is this place?" She was quite curious. _

_Fire erupted in front of her in the darkness, but oddly, it did not light up the place. The fire soon changed shape, to the bird, towering over her with its green eyes glinting, yet a comfortable aura around itself. "You are in a realm between life and death." It said simply as it ruffled its feathers. _

"_Am…am I dead?" she whispered, horrored. NO WAY!_

_The bird shook its head. "What part of realm between life and death do you not get? No, you are just momentarily dead." Seeing her quizzical look, it chuckled once more. "I have stopped you from going to the dead side you know, when you used that attack. That was very stupid of you, you could have died." _

"_Well I am, aren't I?" She retorted. _

_The bird watched her with amusement dancing in its eyes. "Ah, well if you want to go ahead and die, go ahead, I won't stop you. Then I won't have to keep an eye over stupid human girl." Minami opened her mouth to retort, but the bird beat her to it. . "However, I see that someone is in need of you in the living world. He seems quite desperate." It chuckled. "I suggest you go back." _

"_And how am I supposed to do that!" She growled, running out of her patience. The bird acted as it was all that! Pft!_

"_Hasty to see him yourself, aren't you?" The bird mused. "Ah, well come along, I will help you return to your world, I will watch over you, my nestling. Call me when you need me, I will be there for you. I will help you when you are in trouble, I will not try to take over your body without your permission. I will do everything I can to serve you, as long as I se it right." _

_She smiled at the bird as it suddenly changed into its fire ball form. "You better." She mumbled, and she could have sworn it retorted something along "duh" but the fire had suddenly grown in size, blinding her, something was pulling her, into life. _

**Back in Konoha**

"Minami?" Someone's voice asked hesitantly at the figure on a bed at a hospital. Sasuke was sitting on a stool next to her bed, looking at her worriedly. Sasuke was always around her all this time she was unconscious. And he could have sworn she had moved, something he wanted to see for days while she was in bed. He feared that Gaara's prediction might come true. "Minami?" He asked again, when her eyes opened slightly.

Her head slowly moved to where he sat, her green eyes groggily looking at him. "Sa…suke?" She muttered his name, her eyes slowly focusing.

Sasuke's eyes widened at her words. She was talking! Moving! She was…all right! The doctors had said if she regains herself from the coma, she would be perfectly all right. And now, she was all right!

She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes, looking around. Where was she? But her thoughts were soon cut off, when Sasuke brought her into a tight hug.

"Sasuke-kun, how is she?" Sakura asked, walking into the room, holding a vase full of flowers. However, when she saw the scene, she hurriedly jumped out, closing the door behind her. She was heart broken. Even though she knew Sasuke might have feelings towards Minami from the first day she came, it still hurt her. But…it also relieved her. Now Sasuke had someone to care for…She let a single tear fall before she went to inform Naruto and the others that she was awake.

"Sasuke?" Minami asked, blushing madly. "Sakura-san just came…" But he would not listen; he just kept his arms around her tightly, his face hidden under her red hair. "Sasuke?" She asked hesitantly, pushing herself back a little to look at him. "Are you…crying?"

Sure enough, when she looked at Sasuke, there were tears on his cheek. "I thought…I lost you…damn it, Minami! Why did you almost die on me!" He growled his frustration to her, a tear leaking out again. He was truly, from bottom of his heart, happy. "I…I thought you won't come back…"

She smiled at him tiredly. "Of course I would be back…" She brushed a tear away from him. "I would never leave you, Sasuke…"

Sasuke brought her into a hug again. "You better not…"

She returned the hug. "I won't…I won't leave someone I love…And that's you, Sasuke…"

Akanishi-san: ARRGG…Okay, on the last part…Taka had graciously left soon as he hugged her. Lol. Yeah…forgot about him, and I didn't know how to plug him into this soon as I saw I forgot him. XD

**BTW REVIEWERS:**

TO ALL: Sorry, im not supposed to be online so I cant to indivisuals like I always do. But, I would like to thank each one of you though. Thank you for all the supports you have given me, and I love you all for that! Thanks! And, well I have already thought of a continuation to this. I donno if I want to do it. If I do feel like it, I will, I promise! So keep your heads up for more chappie on this! Hehe. Thanks again for all the supports!


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